Harry and John Potter: Year 5v1
by HellIsHere
Summary: Lord Voldemort has returned. Dementors appear in Surrey. The Ministry is becoming increasingly authoritarian. Harry is the target of a smear campaign. He and John find themselves meeting the resistance, and Hogwarts has a teacher worse than Severus Snape. What is a pair of headstrong brothers to do but fight back? M for langauge, adult themes and violence. Part 5 in my series.
1. Problematic Privet Drive

**The last three years are going to be much beefier stories than previous ones. I hope you're ready!**

* * *

The summer of 1995 did not encompass a heatwave per se, but that did not make the hottest day of that year any easier to bear. Temperatures soared above thirty Celsius, and Privet drive was almost entirely deserted, at least the parts of the street which weren't indoors. It was in these conditions which Harry Potter found himself, lying underneath the kitchen window, in between the wall and a large bush which separated Number 4 from number 5 Privet Drive.

Harry thought he should be heartily congratulated on the quality of this hiding spot. The Dursleys would only spot him if they stuck their head out of the window and then proceeded to look directly downwards. He was listening in to the muggle news, but couldn't seem to hear anything of worth. Currently, the only thing playing on the television was a jingle advertising some fruity cereal.

He had been trying to watch the news in the living room, but only to receive nasty glares and snappish comments from Petunia and Vernon Dursley.

"Glad the boy's stopped trying to butt in. Where is he anyway?" asked Uncle Vernon, as if they had actually heard Harry's thoughts.

"Out of the house, but I don't know exactly where", said Aunt Petunia.

"And the other one?" asked Uncle Vernon.

"His self-defence lesson. He's so obsessed with being a ruffian", said Aunt Petunia distastefully. John had again been earning muggle money by delivering newspapers, thus funding his self-defence lessons while he couldn't train with Sirius or Ron. Harry though, just felt no motivation to do anything of the sort. John hadn't been particularly interested in the muggle news though, like Harry was. He had said that the muggle news would not say much about their world, certainly not about Voldemort, who had returned mere weeks prior.

Harry disagreed, maintaining that if there were warnings on the muggle news, then things were getting dire. Thankfully, no such warnings were to be found. In any case, the only news John seemed to be waiting for was a letter from Susan. Ron, Hermione and Delilah's letters were simply put, infuriatingly cryptic.

"Watching the news" Uncle Vernon scoffed. "As if boys his age are interested in the news. Dudley doesn't care at all, I doubt he even knows who the Prime Minister is! It's not like there'd be anything about his lot on our news-" Uncle Vernon started.

"Vernon, the windows are open" Aunt Petunia hissed.

"Oh yes... Sorry dear", said Uncle Vernon.

Both Dursley adults fell silent, and Harry listened to advertisement after advertisement, whilst watching the elderly Mrs. Figg across the street, walking slowly and muttering something angrily to herself. Harry was glad that he was hiding - Mrs. Figg had been inviting him and John over for tea with increasing frequency. Perhaps she was just getting too old and lonely, but it was far from Harry's idea of productive or fun.

"Dudders is out for tea then?" asked Uncle Vernon.

"Yes, at the Polkisses" said Aunt Petunia. "He has so many friends our Duddikins, he's ever so popular-" she said, before loudly gushing about Dudley and her pride for him, knowing the window was open.

Harry resisted the urge to scoff. They were both rather stupid about Dudley. More stupid still about Delilah, but Harry was thankful that Delilah was away with the others. Dudley however, was giving dim-witted lies about being off to tea with another one of his gang members every evening, but Harry knew very well that they weren't having tea. They were vandalising parks, terrorising smaller children, throwing stones at cars and smoking round street corners.

They knew better than to do any of that near the youth centre where John took his self-defence classes. All of them were afraid of him. The thought always made Harry smirk, knowing that Dudley's gang were now afraid of Harry, simply knowing that John wouldn't take anything of the sort lying down. Harry often saw them at their questionable activities though, seeing them as he spent most of the holidays wandering the streets, scavenging newspapers from bins.

Harry shuffled closer to the wall, listening out for any further news developments, but unfortunately, the most exciting thing he heard was about a baggage handler strike at Gatwick.

All of a sudden, a deafening crack like a gunshot burst from a spot about thirty feet from Harry, who bolted to his feet, wand trained on that spot.

"Put-that-away!" Came Uncle Vernon's angry, desperate voice. Harry hastily stuffed his wand back into his jeans. A few faces were staring at him through their windows.

"Lovely day!" Uncle Vernon said in a falsely cheerful voice to Mrs. Number seven, who lived opposite them. "That car backfiring gave Petunia and I a right shock!" he said, and the many faces staring at Harry backed off into their houses.

"What the devil are you up to?" Uncle Vernon asked, when the coast was clear. "Making that noise!"

"I didn't make that noise" Harry said flatly.

Aunt Petunia chose that moment to force her horse-like face through the window. It always amazed Harry how his beautiful, good-natured cousin came from such an unpleasant pair.

"What were you doing under the window?" she asked.

"Listening to the news" Harry said in an uninterested voice which sounded more like the tone of Draco Malfoy than he'd have cared to admit.

"Again?" Uncle Vernon asked furiously.

"Well... it does change every day", said Harry, who cursed himself for being so cheeky when the Dursleys were already in a foul mood. John was rubbing off on him.

"Don't get smart with me boy! Tell us what you're really up to, not this listening to the news rubbish! Your lot don't show up on-" Uncle Vernon started.

"Careful Vernon!" Aunt Petunia said, causing Uncle Vernon to lower his voice.

"You lot don't show up on our news!" he whispered furiously.

"As far as you know" Harry said defiantly.

"You're a nasty little liar", said Aunt Petunia after a few seconds of goggling at him. "What are all those owls doing then, coming to your room?" she asked.

"Aha! Get out of that one boy! What are they doing?" Uncle Vernon asked triumphantly.

"They aren't sending me news" Harry said, tonelessly, not wanting to think about his frustration with Ron, Hermione or Delilah.

"I don't believe you", said Aunt Petunia instantly.

"Nor do I", said Uncle Vernon. "You're up to something. I want to know what it is, and you'd better tell us now. We aren't stupid", said Uncle Vernon forcefully.

"That's the most interesting news I've heard all day", said Harry nastily, not caring about the consequences of his being rude.

Before the Dursleys could call Harry back, he turned around, hopped the fence and set off onto the streets, ignoring their angered yells. He knew they wouldn't particularly care by the time he got back. Either way, John's lesson ended about five minutes ago and he'd be getting ready to walk back home by now. Furthermore, he knew that sound. It wasn't a gunshot, nor was it a car backfiring.

It sounded like apparating or disapparating. It was the exact sound Harry had heard whenever Dobby the house elf snapped his fingers and appeared or disappeared from any given area. Was Dobby with him at Privet Drive? Was he being tailed by the elf? He doubted it, he didn't think Dobby could turn himself invisible.

Harry was only vaguely aware of the route he was taking - he'd been aimlessly roaming the streets for three weeks straight now, and his feet automatically took him to his favourite areas without thought. He found himself glancing over his shoulder, or darting his eyes around the nearby area. Someone magical had been near him, he knew it. But why hadn't they said something? Why were they hiding? Where were they hiding?

Before long though, a sinking feeling overcame Harry. Maybe there wasn't anyone magical there after all. Maybe it was just a car backfiring. He could have just been overly desperate for contact from the wizarding world, to the point where his mind would play such tricks on him. Worse still, he knew he'd be woken early tomorrow morning to a copy of the daily prophet, only to find no mention of Voldemort. Any killings or signs of his activities would be front page news, and he hadn't seen anything of the sort.

What were the idiots running that paper playing at? And what were Ron, Hermione and Delilah playing at? Insisting that they couldn't say anything, that they'd tell him when he arrived. They were probably talking about the burrow or Sirius' house in muggle London. The thought of all of them enjoying themselves, together, as opposed to him or John being stuck in Privet Drive made Harry's temper flare once again. They'd also said they were busy, but what with?

Why wasn't he busy? He was the one who Voldemort was after and he was the one who'd clashed with him directly. Harry forced himself to stop thinking of that night. Having nightmares, watching Cedric die, or John tortured by the cruciatus curse again and again was bad enough without it consuming his thoughts whilst awake. Harry turned the corner onto Magnolia Crescent, where he'd first locked eyes (unknowingly) with Sirius.

Sirius, who seemed to understand how he was feeling. His letters, whilst admittedly equally sparse on news, at least contained consolation and advice. 'I know this is frustrating to you', or 'keep your nose down, everything will be alright'. His letters also contained a bit of bad news, unrelated to Voldemort, but noteworthy all the same. Whatever they were up to, the adults, had forced Sirius to spend less and less time with Lauren, prompting her to break up with him. The worst part was when Sirius directly quoted her.

"I still love you, but I can't do this any more"

Without a doubt, that would have stung Sirius and quite badly too. Harry remembered what seeing Cho with Cedric was like, and knew that for Sirius, it would have been worse. This line of thought however, led Harry to start thinking of how Sirius at least had company. Remus, Delilah, probably Ron and Hermione at least on occasion...

Harry eventually reached a park which he frequented, due in no small part to the fact that Dudley's gang had broken so many of the apparatus that no one else went there any more. Harry perched himself on the only swing that hadn't been broken yet, trying to think of another way for him to listen to the news later - he could no longer hide in the flowerbed under the window.

"You're doing a damn good job of playing the chronic tragic hero that Skeeter wanted you to be right now", came a familiar, but welcome voice. Harry looked behind him and saw John. He had seen him just that morning, but in the wake of his day being progressively more depressing, he was an extremely welcome sight.

He had now grown to stand just a hair under six feet tall, and was still built like the bear he could transform into at will. Harry too had grown and stood roughly an inch or two shorter than John, though not as muscular, due to his very evident lack of motivation.

"What's wrong?" John asked.

"Just... everything", Harry grunted.

"Right... very specific", said John dryly.

It was infuriating how John could stay so positive when he was in the same situation that Harry was in. Where was the rage? The frustration?

"I don't need your damn sarcasm right now", Harry snapped. John merely raised an eyebrow. Harry wanted to vent his rage at someone else... anyone, and the fact that John didn't appear even mildly irritated irked Harry to no end.

"I've been telling you all summer, you need to come with me to the youth centre. Trust me, I've been as angry as you sometimes. Those classes are great for that", John explained.

"Don't feel like it" Harry grumbled.

John sighed.

"And that's your problem. You have problems Harry, I have them too, but you just want to sit around and wallow in your own grief, feeling sorry for yourself. You're not helping anyone with that shit" John said bluntly.

Harry gawked at John furiously. How dare he? He was in just as bad a state as he, Harry was after everything happened in the graveyard! Who did he think he was?

"You were just as bad as I was after... Cedric. What are you on about?" Harry growled.

"True, I was. But am I now?" John challenged calmly.

Harry paused.

"Look, the youth centre is full of kids with problems too. Kids who live in council houses, afraid of being dragged into gang violence, drugs... all sorts of horrific crap. They all love that youth centre, and the physical activities there really let you forget about the shit going on in your life. The point is... if you have problems, you solve them. You don't wallow. Keep this up and you could see Cho fucking Chang and all you'll want to do is yell at her too. She won't enjoy it as much as I do", said John, grinning at Harry.

John's incessant positive attitude was infuriating, but he was making sense. Harry sighed.

"Fine. I'll... I'll think about doing something else. Might come with you" Harry relented.

"Knew you'd appreciate a little bit of tough love", said John, affectionately wrapping an arm around Harry and pulling him off the swing.

In spite of himself, Harry smiled.

"Back home then. Susan might have sent her letter. Might get some news off her", said John in a faraway voice which told Harry that John didn't particularly care what Susan told him, so long as he heard something from her. Thinking of Cho Chang, Harry had to say that he knew the feeling. Smirking, he followed John out of the park.

However, as soon as they hopped the fence and exited the park, they saw four figures. All six of the people present recognized each other. It was Dudley's gang.

Dudley had lost an immense amount of weight since he was thirteen or fourteen years old. He was, as Uncle Vernon always boasted, now a junior heavyweight boxing champion for schools in the South-East of England. They called it a noble sport, far more noble than what John did, which in essence, was functional fighting, how to quickly incapacitate assailants. Harry could see the double standard easily.

He also took some vindictive pleasure in the looks on their faces upon recognizing John. A week ago, John had caught them picking on a twelve year old boy and his eleven year old sister, resulting in a fight in which Dudley's gang where left on the floor, groaning in pain, and John came out with only a bloody nose, lip and a few minor bruises. Dudley was still sporting the black eye from that fight. He had explained to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia that he had merely tripped and landed badly.

"Beat up another ten year old then?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"This one was asking for it. Gave me cheek" Dudley challenged, trying to put up a brave front.

"Yeah, great reason to physically attack a kid. What if I gave you a bit of cheek big D? Want to give me what I have coming?" John asked calmly.

Dudley stuttered and his three cronies took a couple of steps back. Harry could see that they were still sporting a few bruises as well.

"Relax, I don't want to fight. Not unless you princesses make me", said John.

It was obvious that they wanted to retort, but were holding their tongues. They reminded Harry of Draco Malfoy and his gang, but more cowardly and more prone to outright bullying as opposed to antagonizing people of equal stature.

"Real hard, aren't you Potter? Hiding behind your brother?" snarled Piers Polkiss, Dudley's rat-faced friend.

"I don't need him to make you squeal Polkiss" Harry snapped back, before John put his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Come on. We're all heading the same way, right? No need to bite each others' heads off", said John, an evil grin spreading over his face. He knew that all four of them being so close to him as they walked would make them squirm.

Harry noticed within five minutes of walking, John was right. Dudley's gang were completely silent, shooting sideways glances at Harry and John, and they all muttered their goodbyes to Dudley quietly, and Dudley, Harry and John were on their own, making their way through a shortcut to Privet Drive. It was poorly lit, and included some questionable looking alleyways, but they wanted to get back into the house as quickly as possible, so they could be apart from each other.

"So when did the whole 'big D' thing come about anyway?" John asked sweetly. Harry tried his hardest not to laugh, but still smirked.

"Shut up" Dudley said immediately.

"I mean... surely your friends know about the other ones?" Harry added.

"Yeah, Harry, what were they again, remind me", said John.

"Oh, there was err... Ickle Diddykins, wasn't there? Popkin was another one", said Harry.

"I said shut up", said Dudley, starting to raise his voice.

"You're forgetting the best one", said John, raising an eyebrow. Harry was greatly enjoying the feeling of watching Dudley's temper flare whilst knowing he wouldn't dare attack either of them, let alone both of them.

"Oh of course! Dinky Diddydums!" said Harry.

It was clearly taking every ounce of self-control on Dudley's part not to lash out and hit them at this stage.

"So who was the poor kid this time? I know you did Mark Evans a couple of days ago while John was out", said Harry.

"Oh really?" John asked in a threatening voice.

Dudley shrank before him. _Some boxing champion,_ Harry thought.

"How old was that guy you beat for the championship anyway? Seven? Eight?" Harry asked.

"Sixteen for your information, and he was twice your weight! He was out cold for twenty minutes when I was done with him" Dudley shot back.

"And yet you're terrified of either of us. Don't make hollow threats Dud. Very unbecoming of a boxing champion" John said mockingly.

"What was this kid's cheek this time then? Did he say you looked like a pig that'd been taught to walk on two legs? That's not cheek you know, that's just the truth", said Harry nastily. John was right. Venting frustration was incredibly satisfying, even if what he was doing now wasn't as constructive as what the youth centre provided.

Dudley stayed silent for a few seconds before responding.

"Think you're big men carrying those things around?" he asked.

"We both know I don't need it to deal with you" said John in a tired voice.

"At least I'm not afraid of my pillow", said Dudley.

Harry frowned.

"What're you on about?" he asked.

Dudley's lips curled into a nasty smile.

"Don't kill Cedric! Boo hoo! No, dad, he's going to kill me too!" Dudley cried mockingly.

John stayed silent, forcing himself to contain his anger, but Harry did no such thing.

"Shut up!" He snarled.

"Who is Cedric? Is he your boyfriend?" Dudley asked, the same evil grin adorning his face.

Harry didn't hesitate, and he pulled his wand out, pointing it straight at Dudley's chin, the fourteen years worth of hatred towards Dudley coursing through his veins. Dudley paled.

"Put that away!" he yelled.

"Don't. Mention. That. Again" Harry snarled.

"Point it somewhere else at least!" Dudley cried.

"Do you understand? You won't mention that ever again!" Harry growled louder.

John grabbed Harry's arm and yanked it downwards and gave him a warning look, but before anything else could be done, something out of the three boys' control began to happen. The air around them began to get colder, a thick fog began to envelop the surrounding area, and they felt surrounded by some unknown and impenetrable darkness.

For a moment Harry thought he was performing accidental magic, but reason caught up with him. He didn't have the power to alter the very weather around them and create a micro climate. No, something else was at play.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Dudley whimpered.

"Nothing! This isn't me!" Harry yelled.

The cold that was enveloping got progressively worse, to the point where goosebumps appeared on their skin. No... they couldn't be here... not in Little Whinging!

"I-I'll tell dad!" Dudley whimpered again.

"This isn't us Dudley, now shut up! We need to listen!" John snapped.

Dudley looked terrified but obeyed. John and Harry exchanged looks of fear. The same thing was now on both of their minds, and they both raised their wands.

The cold was coming from more than one direction, which meant that there was more than one. Dudley however, began to panic, and to Harry and John's horror, began to bolt.

"DUDLEY STOP! YOU'RE RUNNING RIGHT AT IT!" Harry yelled.

Dudley skidded to a halt, but the abrupt shift in speed forced him off balance and Dudley fell to the ground.

Harry and John both stared in shock as two huge dementors flew straight at Dudley. The international statue of secrecy be damned, this was a good enough reason to use their wands.

"Expecto Patronum!"

As before, a great silver stag and huge silver bear erupted forth from their wands, charging down the dementors, forcing them to flee. Harry and John both rushed towards Dudley. He was curled up in a ball, mumbling incoherently, his face pale, his eyes wide with shock. What were dementors doing there? Why attack Dudley?

The moon, stars and nearby streetlamps popped back to life, and the warm, summer breeze began to refill the area. John grabbed Dudley and hauled him to his feet, but Dudley, it seemed, wasn't in a state to be doing anything, let alone standing on his feet. John pushed Dudley against a wall and examined him. Dudley's eyes weren't following John's face, they were just staring blankly ahead.

"Is... is it gone?" he asked, shaking violently.

John blinked and then stared at him.

"Did... you see it?" John asked. As far as he was aware, muggles couldn't see dementors.

Dudley shook his head.

"Something was there..." he said, still shaking violently.

"Yeah, it's gone... come on", said John, trying to get Dudley to walk. However, Dudley simply wouldn't, he just slumped back against the wall, shaking.

"I'm not going to have to carry him am I?" John asked, looking at Harry.

"You might..." said Harry uncomfortably.

John nodded and with no small amount of effort, picked Dudley up and carried him over his shoulder.

"I can help" Harry said lamely.

"No, if those things come back, we need you with your wand out", said John, grunting with the effort of carrying someone as big as him. Harry agreed on that front, though Harry wanted to cringe with every step that John took. He had no idea how John didn't collapse every time one of his feet left the ground. Both he and Dudley must have been around ninety kilos each.

"We're not that far off from Privet Drive anyway" John added.

Before long, and to both Harry and John's surprise, the rounded the corner to see Mrs. Figg, with a crazed look on her face.

"Keep that wand ready! Oh, I am going to kill Mundungus Fletcher!"


	2. The Extraction

"What?" Harry asked. He recognized the name, but who was he? Why was Mrs. Figg angry at him?

"Hang on... I've heard Mr. Weasley mention Mundungus Fletcher, he's... one of us. Mrs. Figg, how do you know him?" John grunted under a groaning, terrified Dudley.

"He was supposed to be watching you, but he left! I told him I'd flay him alive if he went, and he did it anyway, and now look! Dementors! It's lucky I put Mr. Tibbles on he case, but we don't have time to stand around!" Mrs. Figg said.

"Dead right" John grunted, shifting forwards, Dudley still on his back.

"Hurry, we've got to get you back! Oh, I'm going to kill him!" Mrs. Figg said.

The fact that she knew what dementors were was incredibly relieving to Harry, but surprising too.

"You're a witch?" Harry asked.

"No, I'm a squib, as Mundungus knows very well. How am I supposed to drive dementors away?" she postulated.

"So if this Mundungus has been following me... he's the one who disapparated!" said Harry, remembering the loud crack on Privet Drive.

"Yes, he has, but now that he's left... the trouble it'll cause... what'll Dumbledore say?" She asked hypothetically.

"You know Dumbledore?" John gasped, both due to surprise and the effort of his legs carrying nearly two hundred kilos.

"Who doesn't know him, of course I do! Keep that wand ready, there'll be hell to pay regardless of what you do now!" Mrs. Figg warned. Harry nodded.

"How come you didn't tell us you're a squib?" John asked, panting with the effort of staying on his feet. "All those times we've been over to your house, you could've said something"

"Dumbledore's orders, I'm sorry. The thing is, if the Dursleys thought you were having a good time, and I needed to keep an eye on you this whole time" she explained. "It wasn't easy you know, but oh my word" she said, wringing her hands worriedly. "How am I supposed to tell Dumbledore about this? I can't apparate, I can't even transfigure a teabag into a tablespoon"

"We've got owls, it's fine" said Harry.

"You don't understand, the ministry already know you've used magic, they have ways, and Dumbledore will want to act right now!" Mrs. Figg warned.

"But there were dementors, we had to use magic!" said Harry.

"I wish it were that simple, but- MUNDUNGUS FLETCHER! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Mrs. Figg yelled upon hearing a loud crack. There was a strong smell of drink mingled in with stale tobacco. A short, squat man with stringy ginger hair and a messy, unshaven face appeared out of thin air. He was holding a light, silvery bundle which was recognizable as an invisibility cloak.

"S'up Figgy?" Mundungus asked, seemingly unaware of Mrs. Figg's fury. "Thought you were meant to be undercover?"

Mrs. Figg's lip twitched. "UNDERCOVER? THERE WERE DEMENTORS HERE!" she screamed.

Mundungus paled. "D-dementors? Here?" he asked, starting to shake.

"Yes. Dementors." she snarled. "All because you had some hare-brained scheme about stolen cauldrons!"

"W-well it was a good business opportunity" Mundungus stuttered.

"So good that the boys were left without protection and had to use magic in a muggle area to defend themselves against dementors! You'd better apparate to Dumbledore right this minute and explain to him what happened, and why you weren't doing your job" Mrs. Figg seethed.

Mundungus stared fearfully for a moment.

"Err... yes, I'd better..." he trailed off, before turning around and disapparating, presumably to Dumbledore.

"That... Oh, if I get my hands on him" Mrs. Figg growled. She continued to mutter angry words about Mundungus all the way back to Privet Drive, where Mrs. Figg left them, in spite of Harry and John's protests, hoping that she'd answer more questions, but instead, Harry had to knock on the door and ignore the pit in his stomach that built as Aunt Petunia's silhouette drew closer and closer to the door.

The look on her face upon seeing Dudley being hauled around on John's shoulder reminded Harry that for all the unpleasantness, Petunia Dursley was still a mother. The same could be said for her more bombastic husband.

After John finally set Dudley down on the sofa, still pale, shaking and terrified, before stretching his back and groaning at the freedom, Uncle Vernon rounded on Harry and John.

"What did you do to him?" he asked furiously.

"Nothing, it was a pair of dementors" Harry said flatly.

"Dem-what?" Uncle Vernon asked, going slightly pale. Clearly he knew that it was a wizarding problem. Aunt Petunia gasped in shock.

"The guards of the wizarding prison?" she asked. Uncle Vernon stared at her as if she had uttered a string of swear words and she blushed.

"That awful boy was telling her about it once" she said in a small voice.

"If you're talking about my mum and dad, at least have the guts to say so" Harry snarled.

"Yeah, dementors. They attacked Dudley" said John hastily, trying to deal with Harry's volatility.

"And you drove them off did you Dud? Gave them the old one-two?" Uncle Vernon asked Dudley encouragingly.

"You can't punch dementors and drive them off, believe me, if you could I would. They're twelve feet tall and they can fly", said John bluntly.

Uncle Vernon paled.

"What were they trying to do then?" he asked.

"I have a feeling they were trying to suck out Dudley's soul", said Harry grimly.

"And... is he..." Aunt Petunia stuttered.

"He'll be alright, we used patronuses and the dementors flew away", said John. The good news made Uncle Vernon recover visibly.

"Why would _your_ prison guards be here?" Uncle Vernon asked suspiciously.

"Dementors aren't exactly easy to control. Voldemort must've sent them", said Harry.

"B-but h... he's supposed to be gone!" Aunt Petunia whispered. Dudley groaned and turned on the sofa.

"He's back. He came back a month ago", said John.

Aunt Petunia's eyes widened, looking remarkably like miniature dinner plates.

"Right! That's it then! You're out! O-U-T out! We're not risking having a marked man in this house!" Uncle Vernon yelled.

As if in response to Uncle Vernon's rage, half a dozen owls burst through the open living room window, all dropping letters at Harry's feet.

"RUDDY OWLS!" Roared Uncle Vernon, however, he noticed that one of the owls had also dropped a letter at Aunt Petunia's feet, and everyone else in the room was staring at her, gobsmacked.

Harry and John recognized the red envelope.

"That's a howler" Harry said. "You'll want to open it now or it'll be worse later"

"What in the ruddy hell is a howler?" Uncle Vernon asked angrily.

"A letter that yells at you" John said simply.

Aunt Petunia paled, and hastily tore open the letter. A familiar voice filled the air, but it was too loud to discern who exactly it was.

"REMEMBER MY LAST PETUNIA!" it shouted. Aunt Petunia was as pale as milk.

"They're staying" she said simply.

"What? But-" Uncle Vernon started.

"They have to stay" she said firmly.

The vein in Uncle Vernon's forehead was throbbing, but he relented.

Harry then looked to the other letters he'd received. The ones from Sirius, Ron, Hermione, Delilah and Mrs. Weasley all said the same thing - they had to stay in that house at all costs. However, the last owl was from the ministry.

John however, wasn't paying attention to that.

"You're in touch with wizards" he said. Aunt Petunia vigorously shook her head.

"Remember my last? What is that? Who was that?" John pressed.

"Shut up! Go to your room now! No questions!" she shrieked louder than anyone had ever heard her. John again, stood his ground calmly. Harry, seeing John calmly stare down someone else who had lost their temper, now saw why it was such an effective tactic.

"I might. If you tell me what that was all about" said John.

Harry wasn't listening any more though. The letter from the ministry had informed him that he had flouted the decree for the reasonable restriction of underaged magic and had a hearing on the twelfth of August where it would be decided whether or not he would be expelled from Hogwarts.

His heart was in his mouth, and his stomach dropped. But... there were dementors, why wouldn't he be let off? If he explained that he simply had to use the patronus, then he couldn't be expelled... surely?

The other thing which caught his attention was that there was absolutely no mention of John being potentially expelled or needing to go to a hearing. That, Harry thought, was extremely suspicious.

* * *

Mere minutes later, Harry and John were in John's room, John lying down on the bed to rest his aching back from hauling Dudley for half a kilometre, and Harry pacing manically.

"And why didn't they say anything about you?" asked Harry.

"The ministry hasn't exactly been known for its competence lately" John said simply.

"And why is everyone treating us LIKE KIDS?" Harry roared, kicking John's wardrobe in frustration.

"I don't know. But kicking wardrobes and yelling isn't solving anything" said John, smirking.

"Oh shut up" said Harry. How could John possibly be calm in this situation? No one was telling them anything, he, Harry could be expelled in a matter of weeks, and John was just lying on his bed, smirking like an infuriating git at him!

"Come on Harry, I'm as confused as you are. Being angry won't help us think, will it? Calm down and we can think about this rationally" said John.

"You're sounding like Hermione or Delilah" Harry grumbled. However, the thought of Hermione or Delilah now made his blood boil. Ron too in fact. What were they playing at, telling him nothing, expecting him to be alright with being stuck at Privet Drive with no news, and now telling them to stay in the house like a good little boy?

"Someone's got to. Can't have both of us running around like reckless gits, can we?" John quipped.

However angry Harry was at Delilah, Hermione and Ron, he was angrier still at John and his infuriating ability to stay calm and crack jokes. He honestly wanted to hit him.

"Aren't you the bigger reckless git anyway?" Harry snapped.

"Yeah, but I'm not an angry dwarf right now, am I?" John replied, laughing.

"I'm not that much shorter than you any more!" Harry retorted.

"True, but you're still half my size, and angry as fuck. Come on Harry, relax, we're going to get out of here eventually and they'll explain it all" said John.

"Yeah, but when? And what exactly am I meant to do until then? Listen to you cracking fucking jokes all day?" Harry snarled.

"Better than lying down in the flowerbed listening to some celebrity gossip horseshit" said John lazily.

Harry didn't answer. John was right in that regard. In any case, it had been so long since Voldemort had returned and there still wasn't a single headline. Harry was not going to find out anything until he reunited with Sirius and the others.

John shifted to sit upright in his bed.

"Heads up" he said, looking out of his window. Hedwig had come back from her hunt, her beak holding the severed leg of a frog.

"About damn time" said Harry, scribbling down notes to everyone and tying them to the owl.

"I want decent length answers from all of them. Keep pecking them until they write proper answers if you have to" Harry told Hedwig. She stared at Harry understandingly.

"Oh come on, that's not fair" said John, standing up finally. Hedwig looked at him too, her head cocked to the side.

"I really don't think this is in their hands" he said, looking serious at last.

"So? They can't expect me to just do as I'm told like a good little boy when Voldemort's back!" Harry replied, his voice raised.

"No they don't, but come on Harry, if even Ron is saying this stuff, then something serious is going on, and we don't know shit. We should listen to them. Having an owl attacking them isn't going to help anyone" said John.

Harry sighed.

"Fine, you don't have to peck them. But don't leave until we get _something_ " said Harry. Hedwig understood and took off.

She did not return the next day. In fact, she didn't return for the next three. Harry, already filled with restless energy, found his frustration and anger growing day by day. Even John was getting visibly more frustrated eventually, though he managed to keep his cool. However, on the evening of the fourth day, after the Dursleys had left, all of them wearing very formal clothing, something happened

The supposedly empty house made noises which sounded suspiciously like footsteps. Before long, John had tiptoed into Harry's room.

"You hear that?" he asked. His wand was in his hand. Harry nodded.

The two of them turned around, facing Harry's door, wands trained at the hallway, but to their shock, no less than eight people appeared in the doorway, silhouetted against the moonlight.

"Put those wands away before you poke someone's eye out" came a gruff, low pitched voice.

The voice made them stop for a moment - it was familiar.

"Professor Moody?" Harry asked.

"Don't know much about professor. Didn't get round to a lot of teaching, did I? Get over here, we need to see you properly" growled Moody.

"It's alright both of you, we're here to take you away" came a calmer voice, one which made their hearts soar.

"Remus!" said John.

"Why are we standing in the dark? Lumos!" came a third voice, unfamiliar to Harry, but familiar to John from over a year ago.

"Tonks!" said John. Harry looked at John, confused.

"Met her a while back at Hogwarts, she was with the aurors looking for Sirius" John explained.

"And I'm an actual auror now!" she said happily.

"Hey, that's great!" said John.

"You were right Remus. They both look exactly like James" said the tallest of the wizards present. He was bald, had very dark skin, and had a single gold hoop in his ear. His voice was even deeper than John's and it was slow, very clear and almost reassuring in a way.

"Lily's eyes though", came the wheezing voice of an elderly wizard.

"How do we know it's really them? Death eaters with polyjuice potion would be a damn good lookout" said Moody.

"Harry, John, what forms do your patronuses take?" asked Lupin.

"Stag" said Harry.

"Brown bear... well a silver brown bear" said John.

"It's them" said Lupin firmly.

Harry and John put their wands away, and headed into the living room where there was more space.

"Not in your back pocket!" Moody snapped at Harry. "If it goes off by accident you'll lose a buttock! Too many cases I've heard of, it's elementary wand safety, no one bothers"

"Ooh, who's lost a buttock?" asked Tonks.

"Never you mind!" Moody growled at her. "And I saw that" he said, as Tonks rolled her eyes. Moody's magical eye was clearly still working.

Neither Harry nor John could fully grasp the fact that it was real. Nearly a month of no contact whatsoever from any wizards and suddenly, eight of them were in the Dursley's living room.

"So where's Sirius?" asked Harry.

"He's the only one who can control... a certain house elf. We'll explain when we get there" said the tall, black wizard.

"Get _where_?" asked John.

"We can't talk about it here. Tonks, Remus, help them pack. You've got brooms as I understand, right?" asked Moody.

"Yeah" said John.

"Good. Make it quick then" said Moody.

* * *

After packing, Harry and John found themselves flying towards London, and the feeling of freedom was beyond refreshing and liberating to them. Harry hadn't flown since he took on the Hungarian Horntail, and even then he couldn't simply enjoy the feeling of the breeze in his face or soaring above onlookers. Now though, even in a tight formation amongst what Remus revealed to be their guard, the feeling of soaring a hundred feet above the ground was incredible.

The best part was when they flew over the Thames. Moody wouldn't allow John, who hadn't flown in a longer period of time even than Harry, to test himself by flying deliberately close to barges or smaller boats, but flying over water seemed to be a different experience altogether compared to flying above even a Quidditch pitch. Both of them internally vowed to find an excuse to fly over water bodies more often, perhaps the black lake if Harry was not to be expelled.

"We're coming up on it!" Called Tonks from ahead of the others.

"Alright! Start the descent!" Moody barked.

They landed in a small park overlooking what looked for all the world like a block of connected housing. Harry was sure that during the summer between third and fourth year, he, John and Delilah had passed this street. Reading the sign, Harry saw that this was called Grimmaud place. However, counting the numbers, there was no number twelve.

As that thought entered Harry's mind, Moody shoved a small piece of parchment into his hands.

"Memorize it, quickly" he said.

'The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix can be found at Number 12, Grimmaud place' it said. Harry passed it to John, and once John had read it, Moody waved his wand in a large, sweeping motion, and before their eyes, numbers eleven and thirteen split apart, but upon looking into the windows, the muggles living there didn't seem to notice. In the space between the two houses, a much larger one materialized in front of their eyes. Harry stared at it, astonished, and John's reaction was rather similar.

Clearly they hadn't even scratched the surface of what magic was capable of in school yet.

"There's a fidelius charm on that building. Dumbledore is the secret keeper. Sirius owns it" Remus explained.

Things were starting to become clearer. Sirius hadn't been able to come and get them because there must have been a house elf in that house bound to him, and it must have been a difficult house elf to deal with without him.

"What are you waiting for?" Moody asked, limping towards the front door.

Dragging their trunks with them, Harry and John entered the intimidating looking house. The interior was far from inviting. It was dark, gloomy, grimy and it certainly didn't look to be a place where Sirius would be at home. There was a troll's leg used as an umbrella stand, there was black and green wallpaper peeling off, and cobwebs in most corners.

"What the..." Harry whispered.

"I know. Looks like we'll get an explanation at least", said John, following Tonks towards what appeared to be the dining room, where there were a number of hushed voices.

Before he could get into that room, a welcome and familiar figure appeared in the doorway - Mrs. Weasley.

Without a word, she wrapped her arms around both Harry and John. She looked frantic and worried.

"Thank goodness you made it! Now I'm sorry, I can't stay to talk, but you need to head up the stairs to the second floor, Ron, Delilah, Hermione and Ginny are up there. Third door on your right" said Mrs. Weasley.

"But-"Harry started.

"I'm sorry Harry, but you need to go there, we'll catch up later" she said, looking genuinely apologetic.

John looked at Harry, shrugged and began to head up the stairs, and Harry followed him. They shuddered after passing a wall where there were stuffed heads of house elves which presumably once worked in that house. It was clearly a very old house with a long, dark history.

What sort of place were they in?

They opened the door which Mrs. Weasley had directed them towards, and all they saw was a flash of brown and blonde hair running at them. Once they got over the initial surprise, they realized that it was Delilah and Hermione.

"Harry! John! You're here! Thank goodness!" said Hermione quickly and desperately.

"Blimey girls, let the men breathe"

Ron was standing behind them, grinning. Even though they hadn't seen Ron in only three and a half weeks, they'd forgotten how much he'd grown since their third year. If John was built like a heavyweight fighter (or indeed, a bear), Ron was built like a swimmer. He now stood at roughly six foot two, and all of the advice John had given him had paid off.

Hermione and Delilah too apparently had been treated well by the summer. Hermione's hair wasn't quite as bushy as it used to be (though it was still bushy regardless), and Delilah's skin, in spite of worry etched all over her face, was almost glowing.

"You're probably furious with us, I know our letters were useless, but we just couldn't say anything! Dumbledore made us swear not to say anything, but we can explain everything now I swear!" Hermione.

"I thought I told you to let them breathe" said Ron, laughing and pulling Hermione and Delilah back.

Before anything else was said, Hedwig landed beside Harry with a soft whooshing sound.

"She's been going spare, I know she wanted a reply, you probably told her to get replies" said Delilah.

"Only..." Ron started.

"Yeah, Dumbledore made you swear that you wouldn't say shit" Harry spat.

Ron, Hermione and Delilah looked at each other uncertainly. John rolled his eyes, but let Harry go on.

"He probably thinks that I can't be trusted-"

"Don't be thick" said Ron.

"Maybe he thinks I can't take care of myself" said Harry, nastily.

"He doesn't, of course he doesn't!" said Hermione.

"He just thought you'd be safer in the presence of muggles" Delilah said.

"Didn't work though, did it? How many dementors attacked you lot?" Harry asked aggressively.

"Well... none, but that's why he had order members tailing you" said Hermione.

"Still got attacked" Harry pointed out angrily.

"Dumbledore was pissed" said Ron darkly. "When he found out Dung abandoned his post... well... I'll just say I'm glad it wasn't me he was angry at"

"I'm glad Mundungus left. Otherwise Dumbledore'd probably leave me at Privet fucking drive all summer" Harry snarled.

No one responded.

"I don't suppose anyone knows why you lot can know everything that goes on here while I can't?" Harry asked.

"We don't!" said Ron. "We've not been allowed into any of the meetings, mum says we're all too young"

Something inside Harry snapped. He was yelling without caring about the tears forming in Hermione's eyes, Ron's flinching or Delilah's refusal to look at Harry.

"SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN MEETINGS? BIG FUCKING DEAL! YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? I'VE BEEN STUCK AT FUCKING PRIVET DRIVE FOR A MONTH WITHOUT KNOWING SHIT! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN ANY OF YOU AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT! WHO SAVED THE PHILOSEPHER'S STONE? ME! WHO DROVE OFF ALL THOSE DEMENTORS? WHO GOT PAST THE HORNTAIL, THE MAZE AND ALL THE OTHER CRAP THROWN AT ME IN THAT FUCKING TOURNAMENT? ME!" Harry roared. All of the thoughts he'd been ashamed of for the past month had burst out at the surface and he just vented them all. He was ready to vent more, but a harsh shove jerked his entire body roughly into a nearby bed. Harry, Ron, Delilah and Ron looked up to see John, looking down at Harry with fury in his eyes.

"You. Ungrateful. Piece of garbage" he said, his voice dangerously low.

"John!" Delilah said, scandalized.

"No Delilah. If Harry thinks he's got the weight of the world on his shoulders and does everything on his own, and he's some fucking saint or whatever, then I have some words for him", John snarled.

"Oh yes? And what does Mr. Sunshine have to say?" Harry spat. He'd been just as angry at John as he had at the others in that room. His incessant positivity was finally crumbling, and in a twisted way, Harry was enjoying it.

"I've been in exactly the same position that you've been in. Am I yelling at the people who've been at our side the entire time? Am I trying to make them feel like shit?" John asked.

Harry didn't say anything.

"And who got past the chess set? Ron. Who got you past the poison room? Hermione. Who worked out we had a basilisk to face? Hermione and Delilah. Who bought you time to get the sword of Gryffindor? Me. I'll add that I fucking died to do that. Who killed the basilisk and destroyed Riddle's diary? Ron. Who fought dementors with you? Me. Who taught you how to cast a summoning charm? We did. Who let you train in using combat magic at their expense? We did. And who brought the cup back to save your ungrateful skin? I did" said John.

Harry was now again starting to feel ashamed of himself. Looking at Ron, Delilah and Hermione, he felt worse still. They didn't look angry like John did, they just looked tense around Harry.

"Have you had a bunch of shit you shouldn't have had to deal with? Sure! But if you're going to sit there and yell at the only people who've been by your side since the beginning, then you can eat a bag of dicks" said John, with no small amount of crudity.

Harry took a deep breath.

"Guys, I'm-" he started.

"Save it. Saying you're sorry doesn't mean shit. Show us with your actions. Now we're going to forget about your fucking childish tantrum, and talk about what's going on like adults. Agreed?" John asked calmly.

Everyone was staring in shock at John. He'd never been one to put his foot down and force mature discussions, and yet here he was, doing just that.

"Yeah. Yeah, I can do that" said Harry.


	3. The Order of the Phoenix

"Who are you and what've you done with John Potter?" Ron asked, gaping at John.

"Don't get used to it. It just felt like I'm the only one with the balls to keep this idiot in line" said John, clapping Harry on the back. Harry had the grace to look sheepish in response.

"I really should've thought about what I was saying", Harry mumbled quietly.

"It's alright Harry, you were just angry and frustrated", said Delilah, sitting down next to Harry and putting her hand on his shoulder.

"So was John", Harry pointed out.

"He doesn't exactly have your temper. He's too busy trying not to collapse under the weight of his ego", said Delilah, smirking at the brothers.

"It is quite the burden" John sighed dramatically.

"So... you've been referring to 'the order'. What is it?" Harry asked.

"The Order of the Phoenix. It's a secret society for people who fight You know who. Dumbledore formed it during the first war and he's recalled them because... well... he's back", Ron explained.

"And this place is headquarters?" John asked, wrinkling his nose.

"It's not ideal in terms of the aesthetic, I know. But it's got so many magical protections that it's the best place for it. In any case, it's the last place anyone would expect to find people who oppose You know who", said Hermione.

"Why's that?" asked Harry.

"It's Sirius' family home. Put simply, Sirius never got on with them. They were supporters of the death eaters, even if they never fought for them" Ron explained.

"If you want to hear more about that, you'll have to talk to Sirius though" said Delilah.

Harry and John nodded.

"So this order. Who's in it?" asked Harry.

"Dumbledore of course, mum and dad joined this time round, Bill and Charlie... Sirius, Remus, Mad-eye... the others who came to get you...who else?" Ron asked, looking to Hermione.

"Hagrid is as well, but he's abroad for something. Dumbledore put him up to it with Madame Maxime" said Hermione.

"There are probably more, we just haven't seen them here yet", said Delilah.

Before any further words could be exchanged, a loud crack resonated throughout the room, and Fred and George appeared. Apparently they'd learned how to apparate. Ginny followed them in, smiling brightly at Harry and John.

"What's with the yelling?" George asked.

"Not to worry, Harry just decided to behave like a toddler for a moment" said John, smirking at Harry, who scowled at him, but without the heart to actually be angry.

"We're explaining the order" said Ron.

"Yeah, about that, apparently it's a no-go with the extendable ears" said Ginny.

"What?" Fred asked, apparently frustrated.

"Mum's put an imperturbable charm on the door. Tonks showed me how to check for them, you just chuck stuff at the door and see whether they hit it or not. I've been flinging dungbombs at it and they just fly away" said Ginny.

"Shame. I'd have loved to have found out what Snape's up to" said Fred.

"Snape?" Harry asked, gaping.

"Yep. Giving some top secret report. He's still a git" said George.

"He's on our side" said Delilah regretfully.

"Doesn't stop him from being an arse" said Ron.

"Bill doesn't like him either" said Ginny.

"Wasn't Bill in Egypt?" asked John.

"He was, but to work for the order, he's taken a desk job here", said Fred. "Says he misses the tombs and the thrill, but... well... there are compensations for him"

"Compensations?" Harry asked.

"Remember Fleur Delacour?" George asked.

"Who could forget?" John asked rhetorically, making the girls either roll their eyes or sigh.

"She's got a job at Gringotts. Trying to 'eemprove 'er Eeenglish' and Bill's been giving her loads of private lessons" said Fred suggestively.

"Charlie's in the order too, he's staying abroad to gain foreign contacts and allies and all that" said Ginny.

"Couldn't Percy do that?" asked John.

Everyone fell silent for a moment, and Ron looked at John very seriously.

"Whatever you do, don't mention Percy's name in front of mum or dad. " he said in a tense, firm voice.

"What? Why not?" asked John.

"Because at every mention of his name, dad breaks whatever he's holding and mum starts crying", said Fred.

"It's been horrible" Ginny said sadly.

"We're definitely shot of him, at least for a long time" said George.

"What the hell did he do?" asked John.

"He and dad had... well I'd call it a row, but that'd be putting it mildly" said Ron.

"So it all started when Percy got this promotion" Ginny said.

"Err... what?" Harry asked incredulously. The previous year, Percy had made a massive blunder in not noticing that his boss was being controlled by Voldemort and an imperius curse. How did he get a promotion?

"It was only a week after term ended, he came back and said he'd been promoted. Everyone was surprised because of the inquiry about how he didn't realise Crouch was going off his rocker. Seems strange that he got promoted, and dad said as much" Fred explained.

"He expected dad to be impressed, but he wasn't. Fudge has been storming around the ministry, looking for people with ties to Dumbledore. Dumbledore's name at the ministry has been dragged through the mud these days. Apparently to them, Dumbledore's only trying to stir up trouble saying that You know who's back", said George.

"And how does Percy fit into it?" asked Harry.

"Dad reckoned Fudge was using Percy to spy on us, because we're a family which has always loved Dumbledore. We agree with him", said Fred.

"Percy must have loved that honesty" said John dryly.

"Yeah, he loved it. Loved it so much that he said he'd been struggling against dad's 'lousy reputation at the Ministry' ever since he joined, and that dad's lack of ambition is why we're not... well, we don't... have loads of money" said Fred.

"What?" Harry asked incredulously as Ginny let out a furious growl.

"It got worse" said Ron. "He said dad was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that he was heading for huge trouble and that dad was going to go down with Dumbledore, and that his loyalty was with the Ministry. He said that if mum and dad were going to be traitors to the ministry, he wouldn't be a part of our family any more. He just packed his bags and left"

"Fuck..." Harry breathed out.

"The worst part is this. He's now living here in London, right? So mum went to try and talk him out of it, come back home and all. She's been in a right state, crying a lot, and when she saw him, he slammed the door in her face" said Ron, breathing heavily with the effort of not exploding with anger. Hermione grabbed his hand, which seemed to visibly calm him down.

"Hold on... Percy's not stupid, he's got to know Voldemort's back... right?" John asked.

"Well err... your names got dragged in. Apparently the only evidence for him being back was your word and... it wasn't enough for them", said Ron.

"Oh, because we'd lie about the murderer of our parents", said John dryly.

"I know... Percy even takes the daily prophet seriously", said Hermione.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"Err... have you been reading the daily prophet?" asked Hermione.

"Yes" said Harry defensively.

"Have... you been reading it thoroughly?" Hermione pressed.

"Well... not cover to cover" said Harry. "But if there was news on Voldemort, it'd be front page news, wouldn't it?"

"You'd have to read it cover to cover to understand what I'm getting at. They mention you a couple of times a week", said Hermione.

"What? I haven't seen anything like that" said Harry.

"You wouldn't if you've only been checking front page news" said Hermione. "They've been slipping you in like a standing joke of some sort"

"Just Harry?" John asked, frowning.

"Yes, and it's been quite nasty" said Delilah. "They're building on Rita Skeeter's stuff"

"She isn't writing now though" said Harry.

"I know, but they're adding to the article about you being unstable or mad. They're writing you as a deluded person who thinks that you're some tragic hero of some sort" said Hermione.

"They've been slipping in snide comments all over the place. Say there's a strange story which sounds far-fetched, they'd call it 'a tale worthy of Harry Potter', or if someone has an accident, they'd say 'lets hope he doesn't have a scar or we'll be asked to worship him too'. It's a subtle smear campaign" Delilah explained.

"I don't want worship! I-" Harry started angrily.

"We know" said Hermione, looking at him with a worried expression. "What they're trying to do is turn you into a person who can't be believed or trusted. I'm almost sure Fudge is behind it. They want people to think you're fame-hungry"

"What the- I'm famous because my parents were murdered! Who the fuck wants to be famous for that?" Harry roared.

"We know Harry" Ginny said honestly.

"And they obviously didn't say a thing about dementors attacking you. Surprisingly though, they didn't report on you breaking the statue of secrecy either, we thought they would. It'd play into their narrative quite well. I think though, that they want you expelled, then they'll really pull out all the stops and put the final nail in the coffin" said Delilah thoughtfully.

"So let me get this straight." said John. "Fudge doesn't want people thinking Voldemort's back. So he's using the most popular source of wizarding news in the country... to attack a minor? How is that even legal? Even if it is, does anyone in the wizarding world even think?"

"Well wizards have always been a gossipy bunch" said Ron reproachfully.

"But they can't expel you. Not if they follow their own laws", said Hermione.

"Yeah, because setting dementors on us is totally within their laws" Harry grumbled.

"That's different. If you look at the political nature of assassinations, they can be discrete, because they aren't exactly public domain information, are they? But court cases, especially a high profile one like yours? There'll be a scribe writing everything down, they have to abide by premade laws" Delilah explained.

"One can hope. I'm allowed at that hearing, right?" John asked.

"You're an immediate family member and a witness, even though you probably cast a patronus yourself, didn't you?" Hermione asked shrewdly.

"Yeah I did. I'm amazed I don't have a hearing myself" said John.

"The ministry are putting all their eggs into one basket. They don't want to split their smear campaign, they just want to discredit you Harry" said Delilah.

"Hooray for me" said Harry sarcastically.

"What else can we expect from a bunch of incompetent dipshits?" John pointed out. Ginny snorted.

"I know dad always wants to say something like that about them" she said.

"I can imagine" said John, smiling wryly.

Their conversation was interrupted by another whooshing owl landing. This time, it was Achilles.

"Oh", said John. "That'll err... be Susan"

A smirking Ron opened his mouth, but shut it again when Hermione gave him a pointed glare. Harry too, was smirking, but didn't say anything.

John read the letter with a smile on his face, but upon hearing the door to the dining room open, everyone in the room rushed towards the staircase, and poked their heads to look down.

A large group of wizards were whispering fervently, and sure enough, Harry could recognize the greasy head of Severus Snape standing in the hallway.

"He never eats here, thank god" said Ron.

"Since that meeting's done it's probably time for dinner" said Ginny.

Ron and John both perked up noticeably, making Hermione grin fondly as they headed down the stairs. Once they'd passed the house elf heads, they watched as Mrs. Weasley and Remus magically sealed the door behind the people who were leaving.

No sooner had Harry's feet touched the ground floor landing, than aloud Crash echoed throughout the vicinity. Tonks had tripped over the troll-leg umbrella stand, pulling some moth-eaten curtains with her.

"Tonks!" Mrs. Weasley moaned.

"Sorry!" Tonks said earnestly, but apparently the damage had been done. Behind the curtains was a portrait of what could easily have been described as a hag. She opened her mouth and a blood curdling scream filled the air.

"FILTH! SCUM! HALF-BREEDS! BLOOD TRAITORS! ABOMINATIONS! SCOURGE OF THE WORLD, HOW DARE YOU FOUL THE HOUSE OF BLACK WITH YOUR PRESENCE!"

"Shut up! SHUT UP YOU OLD HAG!" came the voice of Sirius, as he and Remus yanked at the curtains, trying to cover the portrait up.

Once they'd managed to shut the curtains through the screeching of the old woman's portrait, Sirius turned to Harry and John.

"Hello Harry, John. I see you've met my mother"

"That... is your mother?" Harry asked, blanching.

"Yep. We've been trying to get that portrait down, but I'm pretty sure the bloody thing has a permanent sticking charm on it", Sirius explained.

"Why didn't you make _our_ house in London headquarters?" asked John.

"Because there could be anywhere up to thirty odd people here at any given time. Our house is big, yeah, but not _that_ big. I'm renting it out to a muggle couple" said Sirius.

"Which means... you're living here too then?" asked Harry.

"Yeah. Not that I want to, but with everything going on right now... well, everyone's got to make sacrifices, don't they?" said Sirius.

"We'll have plenty of time to discuss it all, but later Sirius, I'm sure everyone's hungry" said Mrs. Weasley hurriedly. She was clearly trying to avoid the area where that conversation was heading. Ron and John shared a look which said that both of them had worked out as much.

They settled down in the dining room, and it in were the Weasley family minus Percy and Charlie, Tonks, Mundungus, Hermione, Delilah, Remus, Sirius, Harry and John. It was a far larger group than Harry was used to, and yet he didn't find himself caring - as far as he could tell, everyone there was part of the order of the phoenix, people who opposed Voldemort vehemently enough to join a top secret society.

He'd certainly do his best to find out more from them than what Ron, Hermione and Delilah could give up.

"Good summer Harry?" Sirius asked ironically.

"Yeah, great", said Harry flatly.

"Well if I'm honest, this isn't a place you'd want to be in. We've been trying to make it fit for habitation for nearly a month and we're still not done. There's dark magical booby traps here and there, animals breeding, a layer of filth probably nine inches thick on every wall... Kreacher's done nothing to this place for fourteen years" Sirius explained.

"Kreacher?" asked John.

"The Black family house elf" Remus explained. "He's not the friendliest elf I've met"

"Putting it mildly. He hates muggleborns almost as much as my mother did, and hates the fact that I'm his new master more than anything", said Sirius.

"Maybe if he had some help though-" Hermione started tentatively.

"Kreacher would never let another house elf sully his masters' noble domain. I can't set him free either because he knows too much" Sirius grumbled.

"Kreahcer's a nut, plain and simple. If you can avoid him, avoid him" Ron warned.

"He's been conditioned that way Ron! If we were just nicer to him-" Hermione started.

"His ambition is to have his head mounted on that wall. Doesn't strike me as someone who wants to listen to reason" said Ron.

"He hates muggleborns as much as Malfoy too. He won't listen to us. Besides, he's just not naturally a pleasant character" said Delilah.

"Everyone can change though" said Hermione earnestly.

"She's not given up on spew" Ron whispered into Harry's ear.

"It's S.P.E.W!" Hermione admonished. Ron cringed upon realizing that she heard him.

Five minutes later, Fred, George and Ron were laughing heartily at a story Mundungus was telling, and Tonks was entertaining Hermione, Ginny and Delilah by morphing her nose into strange shapes, such as that of a duck's bill or a large, protuberant nose startlingly similar to Snape's. Mrs. Weasley was taking bowls of food to the table.

"We'll help with that mum!" said Fred, taking his wand out far too fast, and accidentally smashing a nearby plate. Mrs. Weasley snapped, and it was clear that Percy's situation was weighing heavily on her.

"Oh for goodness sake! Just because you're of age, doesn't mean you have to whip your wands out for everything! Your brothers never gave me this much trouble! Bill didn't apparate to move six feet! Charlie didn't have to levitate dinner plates! Percy-" she stopped in her tracks, and Mr Weasley's fingers tensed up around his copy of the daily prophet.

"Let's eat" said Bill hastily.

"It looks lovely Molly" said Remus politely, ladling soup into Harry's bowl.

Even though Ron had busied himself with soup, Hermione was casting nervous sideways glances his way. Ron had been the least likely to get along with Percy out of his entire family, including Fred and George, but at the same time, he had never been as likely to make fun of him or antagonize him as the others.

John had taken to forcing Ginny's mind away from the topic of Percy by probing her with questions about what went into the soup.

Eventually, Mrs. Weasley turned to Sirius, reminding him that she thought a boggart was hiding behind a particular desk at the top floor. This made everyone visibly less tense.

Mundungus had been returning to the story that was making Fred, George and Ron laugh so heartily.

"And if ye believe me, the gormless gargoyle buys all 'is own toads back from me for a higher price than 'e already paid for!" he said, wiping tears of laughter away from his eyes as Ron's head slumped onto the table as he howled with laughter.

"I don't think we need to hear more about your business dealings Mundungus" said Mrs. Weasley sharply.

"Molly doesn't exactly approve of Mundungus" Sirius muttered to Harry.

"Why's he in the order?" asked Harry.

"He's useful. He knows all the crooks. He would of course, being one of his own, but he's really loyal to Dumbledore, because he helped Dung out of a tight situation once. What really matters is that Dung is close to the ground, he hears stuff that the rest of us won't. Molly though, hasn't forgiven him for abandoning his post with you and thinks having him over for dinner is a step too far with not burning bridges" Sirius explained.

After enough food to fill up the bellies of even Ron and John, who almost looked like they were competing over who could eat more, conversation and energy began to die down. Ginny was rolling butterbeer corks for Crookshanks to chase whilst sat cross-legged on the floor, whilst listening to John explain how Ron and Hermione became an item. Ron seem shocked to see Ginny looking at him with a proud look on her face. Tonks, now with a normal human nose, began to yawn and stretch, and that level of energy seemed contagious. Mr. Weasley did the same and Remus' eyes began to look droopy and Bill was nodding off on the spot, but forcing himself to be awake.

"It's probably about time for bed" said Mrs. Weasley, stretching her arms out.

"Not quite I think Molly" said Sirius, who seemed far more awake than the others at the table. "I'm surprised, I'd have thought that the first thing you'd ask about would be about Voldemort" said Sirius, turning to Harry and John.

"We did, but Ron, Delilah and Hermione aren't actually in the order, so they couldn't tell us much, could they?" Harry said rhetorically.

"And they shouldn't be. They are too young" Mrs. Weasley interjected. Her arms were folded and she'd regained the energy she seemed to have lost in an instant.

"Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to just ask questions?" Sirius pointed out. "Harry and John have been trapped in that muggle house for almost a month. It's about time-"

"Hang on!" Fred interrupted loudly.

"We've been trying to get stuff out of you this whole time and we got nothing!" said George angrily.

"Harry isn't even of age!" Fred pointed out.

"It isn't up to me what you do or don't know about the order" Sirius said calmly. "Harry and John on the other hand-" Sirius started.

"What makes you think that it's your decision?" Mrs. Weasley challenged.

Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"I'm the legal guardian, aren't I? Remus is John's godfather yeah, but John's legally bound to me too" said Sirius.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"What would that be?" Sirius asked coolly.

"Dumbledore! Him telling us not to tell Harry or John, especially Harry more than he needs to know!" said Mrs. Weasley.

"Why especially me?" Harry asked, frowning.

"It's not for you to know!" snapped Mrs. Weasley. Harry was taken aback. Mrs. Weasley had never treated him with anything less than adoration in his entire life. Ron was definitely right about her protectiveness.

"You know" Harry said angrily. "It'd be great if you weren't all talking about me like I'm not even here! And besides, I'm pretty sure I should get a say in what's good for me? Besides, who actually saw Voldemort come back?"

Everyone fell silent and stared at Harry.

"In any case, I've made my decision. I don't care what Voldemort's plans for Harry are, I know what his ideology is. I'm fighting him. Whether it starts tomorrow or in sixty years, I'm fighting him. I'm also way better placed than most people my age to make that decision because I've confronted him three times now" said John firmly.

"Fine!" said Mrs. Weasley frustratedly. "Fine, George, Fred, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Delilah, you're going upstairs!"

The uproar was instant.

"I want to hear it too, what's the difference between them and me?" Ginny asked.

"We're of age!" Fred yelled.

"Harry and John'll just tell us everything they hear anyway!" Ron said firmly.

Mr. Weasley finally spoke up after quietly observing the exchanges.

"Fred and George are legal adults. We can't stop them from doing anything now" he started. "And Harry and John probably will tell Ron, Hermione and Delilah everything at the very least"

Ginny silently cursed the fact that she was a year younger than Ron and therefore, wasn't as close to his friendship group.

"Fine then, Ginny, you're going upstairs!" Mrs. Weasley shouted.

Ginny did not go easily, nor did she go quietly. Her loud argument with her mother could be heard all the way up the stairs.

"Alright. What do you want to know?" Remus asked.

"Loads. Where is he? What's he doing? I've been watching the muggle news but there's nothing going on which has signs of him being active, no weird deaths or anything like that" said Harry.

"There haven't been any" said Remus.

"Why'd he stop killing people? Don't tell me he's grown a conscience" said John disbelievingly.

"Of course he hasn't. He's trying not to draw attention to himself. His return didn't go quite as he'd planned" said Sirius.

"You two survived and made sure Dumbledore found out as quickly as possible. Lucky for him, the ministry has been stifling any mentions of his return. Barely anyone thinks he's back these days" said Remus, frowning.

"Plus, Dumbledore was the only one he'd ever been afraid of, and with him recalling the order, we've been trying to scupper his plans" said Bill.

"How do we know what he's planning?" asked Ron.

"Dumbledore has a hunch. His hunches often coincide with the truth" Remus explained.

"So what is Dumbledore's hunch exactly?" Delilah asked.

"Well first off, he's going to rebuild his network of supporters. Back then, he had a pretty huge following, either those sympathetic to his ideals of those intimidated into his service. He had his trusted death eaters, many dark creatures, giants, all sorts of followers" said Sirius.

"So how is the order stopping him regaining followers?" asked John.

"With great difficulty. All we can really do is convince people that he's back and put them on their guard" said Bill.

"Why's it difficult?" asked Harry.

"Because Fudge isn't just against the idea that he's back. He's pulling out all the stops on making sure everyone doesn't believe he's back" said Tonks.

"Okay... I've always known he was an absolute tool" said John, causing a few people to snort with laughter. "But this is ridiculous. If Dumbledore-"

"You've already got your finger on the point. It's Dumbledore. Fudge is afraid of him" said Mr. Weasley.

"What? Why?" asked Harry.

"Fudge thinks Dumbledore wants to overthrow him in a coup and take control of the ministry and install himself as the minister" said Remus.

"Dumbledore's never wanted to be minister!" said Harry incredulously.

"Yes of course. But, when the previous minister retired, Dumbledore was the popular candidate. Fudge never forgot how much popular support Dumbledore had back then, and when he came to power, he'd always ask Dumbledore for advice. But now, Fudge has grown accustomed to the power, likes it even. Now, he thinks Dumbledore is trying to stir up trouble. He's convinced himself that he's the clever one, and Dumbledore's the upstart" said Sirius angrily.

The youngsters were all staring in disbelief at the older order members.

"You see, accepting that Voldemort is back would mean trouble that the ministry hasn't had to handle in well over a decade. Fudge can't bear the idea, and instead, thinks it's preferable to believe that Dumbledore's trying to destabilize him. With the ministry convincing people that he's not back, it's very hard to do so. Ron, Hermione and Delilah likely spoke about the smear campaign against you Harry. But it goes further than that. This is a mass propaganda campaign to force the message that he's not back down everyone's throats. In fact, it's extremely authoritarian by nature" said Remus.

"Yeah, so authoritarian that I've been shifted from magical law to muggle relations. They don't want me anywhere near stuff that affects the political landscape of the wizarding world itself" said Sirius, with a hollow laugh.

"Jesus..." Harry whispered.

"And Fudge had one of his top lieutenants if you will, pass anti-werewolf legislation that made it functionally impossible for me to hold a job. Which I'm sure explains my current lack of presentable clothing" said Lupin.

"What? Why you?" asked Hermione furiously.

"Well this woman hates non-wizards by default, so she'd have been delighted to do so. But if they're targeting me, it's because my job was at Flourish and Blotts. Imagine how many people I could talk to every day, selling books in Diagon Alley" Remus explained.

"And Arthur and I would probably lose our jobs if we ran our mouths about his return" said Tonks.

"So Fudge has gone from being a bumbling moron to an authoritarian monster?" John asked flatly.

"I wouldn't call him a monster per se, but you're not entirely wrong" said Bill.

"This also explains the effort to discredit Dumbledore", said Mr. Weasley.

The sheer amount of obstacles being explained was mind-blowing to the youngsters.

"So what else is Voldemort after? If he's trying to remain unseen and stealthy and all that, what is he after that he could only get discreetly?" asked Harry eagerly.

"It's something he didn't have last time. Likely a weapon" said Sirius.

"Enough!"

Mrs. Weasley had returned and spoke from the doorway.

"I want all of you in bed, that's plenty of information", she said. "Any more and you might as well induct them into the order"

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea to me", said John dryly.

"No", came the voice of Lupin, which surprised them.

"The order is made of wizards who are of age and out of school" he said. "There are still a lot of things you need to learn, and you all have to mature and understand high-pressure decision making, which I'm sorry to say, you don't yet. You're better than most people your age, but still not ready" Lupin said firmly.

"As much as I hate to admit it, that's definitely true" said Sirius.

For the first time, cutting off information wasn't infuriating to Harry. He'd finally understood enough to actually know what the situation was, and genuinely didn't mind going to bed now. Granted, he wanted to know more, but he knew when it was time to quite whilst ahead.


	4. The Black family

**Some slightly on-the-nose easter egg placement and foreshadowing here. Couldn't resist!**

* * *

Mrs. Weasley had ushered all of the youngsters to their bedrooms, and when Harry found himself bunking with both Ron and John, he almost felt like they were back in the Gryffindor boys' dorm room.

Harry and John saw Ron bolting the door shut and looked at each other quizzically.

"Why're you doing that?" Harry asked.

"Kreacher. First night I was here, he came in here at about three in the morning. Believe me, you don't want to wake up with him right next to you" said Ron.

Harry frowned. This house elf clearly had something of a reputation. Before he could ask though, a loud crack interrupted his thought process - Fred and George had apparated into their room.

"Ouch!"

Onto Ron apparently.

"Sorry Ronniekins" said Fred, helping Ron up.

"It's harder apparating into a pitch-black room" George explained.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever" Ron grumbled as he got to his feet.

"So, got to it yet?" asked Fred.

"The weapon Sirius mentioned?" Harry asked.

"Well... let slip really" said George. "We didn't hear about it on the extendable ears"

"What d'you think it is then?" asked John.

"No idea. Could be anything really" said Fred.

"But what could be worse than the killing curse? I mean, you kill someone by using two words, sounds pretty deadly to me" said Ron, looking to John subtly. Fred and George didn't know about John's short experience with death. It was still only knowledge shared by those who were at his hospital wing bed that day.

"Probably something that can kill loads of people at once" said George.

"Or something that kills really painfully" said Ron, grimacing.

"He's got the cruciatus curse. Believe me, if pain is his goal, he doesn't need anything worse than that" said John darkly, shuddering at the thought of the pain the cruciatus curse had inflicted upon him not so long ago.

Despite the pitch-black conditions, both Harry and John could tell that the Weasley brothers were looking at them with pity, but thankfully, they did not dwell on it.

"Who do you think has it?" asked George.

"Hope it's us" said Ron nervously.

"If it is, Dumbledore's probably hiding it. Probably at Hogwarts too" said Harry.

"Yeah, it's where he hid the Philosepher's Stone, isn't it?" said George.

"The weapon's probably bigger than that though" said Ron sceptically.

"Not really. Size isn't a guarantee of power. Look at Ginny" said Fred.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"She's never used a bat-bogey hex on you, has she?" George asked.

"Shh! Mum!" Fred suddenly hissed upon hearing footsteps from outside the door.

Mrs. Weasley was outside the door, and the creaking of the floorboards told them that she was listening in to check on whether or not they were talking. Once she'd moved away, heading for the stairs, Fred and George apparated to their room in case she checked in on them.

"She definitely doesn't trust us" said Ron.

"Can't blame her. The shit we get up to..." said John, leaving his statement open.

Harry was unsure whether he'd manage to get to sleep - he was mulling the night's events over in his head for quite a while, and constantly heard the floorboards creaking. Mrs. Weasley was definitely being cautious. And yet, the next thing Harry knew, the room was brighter, filled with sunlight, and Fred and George were in there again, shaking him and John awake.

"Breakfast is in the kitchen. Mum says she needs help with doxys - there are more than she thought" said Fred.

"Tell her I'm just replying to Susan. Won't be long" said John. Harry looked up to see John with parchment in his lap, and Achilles on his shoulder. It must have been Susan's letter.

John re-read the letter again, making sure that he had fully processed everything.

 _Dear John,_

 _(No, this isn't the end of some romantic relationship!)_

John chuckled to himself for a moment before continuing. He couldn't believe that it took him so long to realize that a normal letter greeting to him was also a cultural phrase.

 _I got round to explaining everything to my Aunt, and you were right. She's been so supportive, and she's promised not to push as hard as she has in the past. As for what I've heard, my Aunt isn't really at liberty to tell me the ins and outs of the ministry, but I can tell that she's not totally at peace with what they've been doing. She's disgusted in the fact that the ministry and Daily Prophet are colluding. I know neither you nor your brother would lie about the murderer of your parents._

 _What I can tell you though, is that Fudge isn't only afraid of Dumbledore. He's afraid of Harry. I don't really know Harry, but I know that Fudge is terrified that he can turn public opinion against him, which is why he's working with the prophet on the smear campaign. He's addicted to the power of being the minister. It's a shame that he's turned the main source of news into a propaganda machine instead of an actual journalism organization. I also know that she's overseeing Harry's trial. At least I know she's fair._

 _The final thing I need to tell you is that the ministry is monitoring owls. Achilles is pretty recognizable, he's absolutely huge. He could hardly fit through my window. Apparently, the ministry is looking out for Harry's as well, and she's supposed to be easily recognizable too. I should say that it wasn't my Aunt's idea, but she got outvoted by her committee. But for that reason, don't send me a reply. I'll just have to see you at school._

 _I hope the rest of your summer's a good one,_

 _Susan_

John, for the sake of Susan's privacy, didn't show the letter to Harry or anyone else directly, but he did explain what Susan was talking about with regards to the situation at the ministry.

"That's... actually really interesting" Hermione remarked as they ate breakfast, which was a bunch of ham or bacon sandwiches on a large platter, along with some orange juice.

"How so? I can't see anything new" said Ron curiously.

"Well we were all under the impression that Fudge has been looking down on Harry, weren't we? We thought he was only afraid of Dumbledore. Now we know that Fudge's position is more precarious than we thought. And he himself is rather insecure in his power" said Hermione thoughtfully.

"And the other thing is that Fudge doesn't have very sound ethics. Attacking a minor with a public smear campaign? This would never fly in the muggle world" said Delilah firmly.

"There's a lot wizards could learn from the muggle world, isn't there?" Harry pointed out.

"They could definitely learn how to not have a government run by authoritarian cunts" said John dryly.

"John!" Hermione gasped.

"Well how else would you describe Fudge? Intercepting owls containing private letters? Colluding with the daily prophet which pretty much monopolizes news in wizarding Britain? Attacking someone who's like a quarter of his age and isn't even an adult? I'm not going to apologize for words", said John.

"It's still foul language" said Hermione firmly.

"But who cares? They're just words really. I'm not using them to describe anyone who doesn't deserve it, am I?" John pointed out.

"Actually... John's right" Ron added. "I mean, words only hurt if you let them. Besides, he's not calling _you_ a cunt, is he?" He was looking at Hermione in a slightly tense way, as if worried that he'd start an argument by saying so.

Hermione looked pensive but didn't argue.

"John's mouth isn't really the topic at hand though. I think he's right, if we think about it, the wizarding ministry is quite authoritarian. And with Fudge being terrified of the idea of Voldemort, he's going to make it worse. The order isn't very big, is it? What can they really do?" Delilah asked.

"Start with the underground. Shape public opinion quietly, person by person. Eventually, change will come in something of a non-violent and silent coup" Hermione postulated.

"Pretty fascinating stuff. Still though, I don't like that we're not allowed in the order" said Harry.

"Doesn't mean we can't help. We're at a giant school filled with young wizards and witches who might be buying into the Ministry's crap. You can guess what I'm getting at" said John.

After breakfast, seemingly everyone in the house busied themselves with cleaning different parts of the house. Meanwhile, other order members came and left through the house, including Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance and Hestia Jones, all of whom were in the group which escorted Harry and John away from Privet Drive.

Harry, Ron and John found themselves staring after Hestia as she went. Hermione cleared her throat loudly and gave Ron a pointed look. Ron's ears went red and he looked rather sheepish.

"Come on Hermione, it's human nature to stare at attractive people, Hestia's attractive" said Delilah.

"Very", said John quietly, winking at Harry who had to hold in a laugh.

"Well I can't help being possessive" said Hermione defensively, as she scrubbed the wall angrily.

"Don't worry about it, I don't plan on downgrading" said Ron.

"Downgrading?" Hermione asked quizzically. Harry rolled his eyes.

"He's saying you're better looking than Hestia" said Harry.

"High praise indeed" said John.

Hermione's cheeks began to flush, as did Ron's as he mustered up the courage to say what was on his mind next.

"Not just Hestia. Everyone really" he mumbled. Hermione's cheeks were now glowing red, and she stopped scrubbing on the spot for a moment.

"Alright, alright, you two are probably thinking about snogging, but can you just restrain yourselves for now? I want to get this room done before lunch, I can't stand being in here" said Harry. Ron and Hermione looked at each other, grinning shyly. There was little doubt towards what they would be doing after lunch.

However, Harry was now more focused on the room he was in. It was some kind of living room, but something about it wasn't right at all. Whenever he passed a particular small glass cabinet, he felt uneasy. It was obvious that the others were feeling the same way as they roamed the room, cleaning it.

Harry looked into the cabinet, seeing a few old, dusty goblets made of silver, and in front of them, a heavy looking gold locket, with a glittering green 'S' welded into its centre. Harry didn't know why, but looking at this locket made him shiver, and he tried his best to ignore it as he continued to clean the room. Later on in the morning, Sirius came into the room with a smile on his face.

"Thought I'd give you a hand" he said.

"That'd be great, thanks. We need to clean this tapestry" said Hermione appreciatively.

"Shame I have to clean this damn thing" said Sirius, looking at it distastefully.

"What exactly is it?" asked John.

"The most ancient and noble house of Black" said Sirius sarcastically. "My family tree"

John looked at it again.

"Big family tree" he said. There were hundreds of names on it.

"Hang on... I can't find you on it" said Ron, squinting at it.

Sirius planted his finger on a burned, black spot.

"That's me. My mother did that after I ran away when I was sixteen. I hated almost everyone in that accursed family. My parents with their pureblood mania... my brother eating all of that rubbish up..." Sirius explained.

"You ran away? Where did you go?" asked Harry.

"Your dad's. I was always welcome over there, they always treated me like a second son. Then when I was of age, I inherited my Uncle Alphard's gold and got a place of my own. Yes, that's him over there" said Sirius, pointing at another burned, black spot quite close to his own but one generation up.

"Were your family death eaters?" asked Ron.

"Not all of them. Not my parents at least, but they definitely held with Voldemort's ideals" said Sirius. "My brother joined them. Idiot" he added sadly.

"What? What happened to him?" asked Hermione in shock.

"He died. He must have seen what they were really like and tried to back out. Of course, you don't back out when you join up with them" Sirius said bitterly.

"Wow... and was he the only one?" asked Harry.

Sirius gave a humourless laugh.

"Hardly. There's my deranged cousin Bellatrix Lestrange. Married into the Lestranges, another pureblood fanatic family. There was Narcissa Black, who you know as Narcissa Malfoy. We both know Lucius Malfoy's one of them" said Sirius.

"So... you're related to the Malfoys too!" said Harry.

"Pretty much all remaining pureblood families are related by marriage at least these days. I'm related to you too Ron. Cedrella Black, is your grandmother, married Septimus Weasley, but she was burned off the tree too. Weasleys are considered a blood traitor family, so they disowned her" said Sirius.

"A what?" asked Harry.

"Purebloods who are okay with muggles and muggleborns" said Ron.

"So your family were... well..." Delilah started.

"Pureblood fanatic extremist nutcases for the most part. Though there's always Andromeda, my favourite cousin. She's Tonks' mother. Married a muggleborn, Ted Tonks, so she was burned off the tree and disowned too" said Sirius, pointing at another black scorched spot. "I'm the last male heir though, so I inherited pretty much all of the wealth and the house, but I'd throw it all away to be part of a family like the Weasleys" said Sirius wistfully.

"At least you're using the house in a good way" said Ron bracingly.

"Yeah, it's about the only thing I can do with this damn place. And as long as it's being used, I have to be here because Kreacher is completely crazy, and I'm the only one who can control him" said Sirius. Hermione shifted uncomfortably on the spot at the mention of Kreacher.

"If I do get expelled at least you'll always have company here" said Harry.

"You won't Harry. Remus, John and I will definitely be coming to the trial. John's a witness, and there were dementors. You'll be fine" Sirius said firmly.

Harry took a long, hard look at Sirius. He looked tired and ragged. There were bags under his eyes and his hair, while clean, was very disheveled. Clearly living in Grimmaud place wasn't having a positive effect on him. Harry almost wouldn't have minded being expelled to keep Sirius company, even though he worked at the ministry.

Days passed in much the same way, with horrifically filthy rooms being disinfected and cleaned, a few pertinent conversations in between and a few more discoveries about the black family tree. Apparently however, Harry wasn't the only one who felt uncomfortable in that room. Ron headed towards it, looking slightly shifty as he did so, and John followed him.

"I thought we finished with this room?" John asked as he entered the tapestry room, making Ron jump.

"I know, but... there's just something about this room. I don't know what it is" said Ron, furrowing his eyebrows. John paused. He knew what Ron was talking about. Something about that room made him feel uneasy too.

"I can't say you're wrong actually, but I never figured out what it is" said John.

"Something in this cabinet I think" said Ron, pointing a the dusty glass. and wooden cabinet.

John looked at it and even though he had no proof, he felt like Ron was right. Ron however, was staring intently at it, the locket especially, his eyes narrowed. He was staring at it as if understanding it would change the fabric of the world, but in a dangerous way.

Then, something startling happened, and yet only Ron could hear it.

 _Weak... he will betray you..._

A whisper filled his ears. The voice was high pitched, male and cold. The sound made him recoil in horror.

"What is it?" John asked.

"It... didn't you hear that?" asked Ron.

"No... what was it?" asked John.

"It whispered something to me... it said 'weak' and that 'he will betray you'. I have no idea who it's on about" said Ron.

John was looking back and forth between Ron and the locket.

"Sirius' family would've had a bunch of dark magical objects in their house by the sounds of things. We should probably leave that thing alone" said John.

"You don't have to tell me mate" said Ron darkly, casting another sideways glance at the locket in the cabinet.

He and John headed back towards the room they were staying in, which was the room they'd spend most of their time these days, Hermione and Delilah included. When they met up with them, Hermione and Delilah didn't know what Ron or John were talking about, but Harry seemed to know exactly what they were talking about, save for the whispers.

"It sounds like we really should leave that locket alone. Maybe leave that entire room alone now that it's clean" said Delilah.

"Any excuse to get away from a family tree with that many horrible people on it" said Hermione.

"And with all the good people burned off" Ron added.

"The locket aside Harry, we need to talk about your hearing tomorrow" said Delilah.

"Yeah, I suppose we do" Harry sighed.

"We already know what we're going to do but we'll have to expect the ministry to try their best to put you down. You'll be treated as guilty until proven innocent" said John.

"It's a horrific way of trying to do justice, but I can't expect anything less out of Fudge's current ministry. Not with you, definitely" said Hermione.

"They'll harp on about the statue of secrecy and how there was a muggle around you" Ron pointed out. Harry nodded, he himself expected as much.

"They'll probably try to deny that dementors were there at all too" said Delilah.

"If things get too frustrating I think you can demand to have veritaserum. Sirius would have to give consent of course, you're still a minor and he's your guardian. But if John's allowed to speak, and he also talks about dementors, then I'm sure it won't be necessary" said Hermione.

"Use the fact that a scribe will write down everything to your advantage too. Maybe we can catch the ministry in a lie" said John thoughtfully.

"They'll probably have planned for that but it's worth a try" said Ron.

"We need to deflect all of their questions and pin everything on them, because let's face it, either the ministry set dementors on you or dementors are compromised and Voldemort has them" said John.

"Both are rather frightening prospects" Delilah commented.

"No doubt. So what exactly is our gameplan?" asked Harry.

"Stick to the truth, pin things on the ministry pretty much. Talk about dementors attacking us and the patronus being the only option. Then we start wondering why dementors would be attacking us if the Ministry has them 'under control', and then we should be fine" John explained.

Harry nodded. It seemed as good a plan as any, though he struggled to think of a time when any of their plans in the past had actually gone properly. It'd have to do. The remainder of the day was spent continuing their war with the house. A set of robes tried to strangle Ron, and Mundungus redeemed himself to Mrs. Weasley slightly by getting them off him. John was bitten by a doxy, though Mrs. Weasley thankfully had antidote on hand.

They also found out the identities of a few more Order members, such as McGonagall, who ever since John had become an animagus, had become far less strictly professional around him. Harry was genuinely enjoying himself, in spite of the difficulty of dealing with the house. He managed to forget about his wonky sleeping pattern which included strange dreams of black corridors and a locked door which he never reached. However, his spirits weren't lifted particularly well whenever he'd see Ron and Hermione whispering and casting sideways glances his way.

He'd have preferred it if he walked in on them snogging.

Delilah thankfully had the sense to not do so, at least in front of Harry himself. As for John though, Harry found himself confused over how he ever managed to be angry at his positivity. It was extremely helpful to his own mood; his confidence was contagious. Hermione warned Harry not to let his confidence grow too far and to stick to the plan, which he found rather annoying - did Hermione think he was that stupid? However well meaning she was wouldn't overturn that.

He also found out that Remus and Sirius' testimony would be very limited. All they could do was speak about Harry's character and that he wouldn't do something such as cast a patronus in front of muggles for no reason. That being said, both of them would probably have an easier time flipping the narrative against the ministry instead of against him.

"So how are we going to get there?" Harry asked.

"You can come to work with us" said Mr. Weasley, motioning between himself and Sirius.

"You'll have to wait for a couple of hours in my office though" said Sirius.

"Oh, that's alright." said John.

"Actually, with that in mind, you should go to bed. We'll be leaving quite early in the morning. We can't apparate so we'll have to take the muggle subway" said Sirius.

"Okay, what time in the morning do we leave?" asked Harry.

"About seven thirty. We can't really leave it later than that" said Mr. Weasley.

"Alright. Goodnight then" said John.

"Goodnight" said Sirius and Mr. Weasley.

Harry didn't sleep well at all that night either. Between the strange dreams about the black corridors and the locked door and others in which he was not only expelled from Hogwarts, but sentenced to a dementor's kiss, he found himself waking up at least three different times that night, though each time he managed to calm himself down and that however harsh the ministry could possibly be, a dementor's kiss was out of the question for what he did. Sirius hadn't undergone it when he was thought to have killed thirteen people instantly.

The genuinely worrying thought was never seeing Hogwarts again, seeing Hermione, Ron, Delilah and so many other friendly faces only on rare occasions. He sincerely hoped that John's own confidence was not just bravado and wasn't without reason. He was feeling better about the trial earlier, but now that it was just around the corner... he just wasn't sure any more.

He sat up in the bed and looked around the room. Ron was sure enough, sound asleep and snoring away. John was so fast asleep that he almost looked as if he'd passed out. Was he overthinking things and worrying too much about nothing? Were Ron and John underestimating the risk of expulsion? What would the trial itself even be like? If Dumbledore was no longer a part of the wizengamot, then would the wizengamot really listen to reason? And Dumbledore... he'd been into Grimmaud place at least half a dozen times since Harry had arrived and hadn't spoken to him once. That thought, going into the trial which would start in about eight hours, made Harry feel even worse.


	5. Trial by fire

Harry woke up the next moment uncomfortably abruptly, almost as if gunfire was ringing throughout the house. He found some formal dress robes ironed and laid out next to his bed with a note from Mrs. Weasley.

 _You have to be as presentable as possible to make as good an impression as possible. These used to belong to Sirius. He got into his fair share of trouble as a youngster_

Harry needed the chuckle Mrs. Weasley's note gave him - as he walked past Ron, he couldn't help but think that they might not be schoolmates and housemates the next time they would meet. Worse still was when he met up with Sirius, Remus and John, who instantly silenced the conversation they were having as soon as Harry entered the room, all of them turning to look at him.

Breakfast was silent for them, save for a few comments about not spilling food on his dress robes.

That being said, Watching Mr. Weasley marvel at all of the components of the London Underground gave Harry some much needed levity. He struggled not to laugh at his reaction to doors which opened on their own without magic. They eventually came to a telephone box.

"This is it" said Arthur.

"What?" Harry asked. "That's the entrance?"

"One of them" said John, who had come to the ministry not too long ago to register as an animagus.

Eventually, having found out that the trial had been moved to three hours earlier, they found themselves having to rush to Courtroom ten instead of Amelia Bones' office, and the trial had been moved to eight o'clock. Mr. Weasley had to leave them there, having work to do of his own.

"Stick to the facts. The law's on your side" Remus whispered hurriedly outside the courtroom.

"Don't lose your temper" Sirius added. "They're going to try and make you look as bad as possible even if you're found innocent"

Harry nodded and gulped. John put his hand on Harry's shoulder. It was easily the most serious he'd seen John in a long time outside their narrow escape at the graveyard.

"If your tongue's tied, I'll confess to casting a patronus too and talk about dementors being in our faces" said John.

Harry nodded and the four of them entered the courtroom together.

The courtroom greatly resembled the one he had seen in Dumbledore's pensieve. There were around fifty wizards and witches dressed in formal deep purple dress robes with very elaborate silver 'W's embroidered onto them, all staring down at him. This must have been the Wizengamot. Why the wizarding high court was seeing over his hearing was beyond him this was only a case of underaged magic. However, Harry wouldn't say as much - he did not have the power or leverage in the room yet.

"You're late" said a firm male voice from among the Wizengamot.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know" Harry said nervously.

"This is not the Wizengamot's fault. An owl was sent to you this morning" said the voice.

"This morning? The trial is also 'this morning'. Pretty poor timing. You need to send owls earlier than that" said Sirius. As an employee there, he at least held some authority.

The voice didn't address Sirius' point, and continued to address Harry.

"Take a seat" he said.

Harry looked at the chair. It was covered in chains, like the ones which held the Lestranges and Barty Crouch junior. He tentatively sat down whilst Sirius, Remus and John sat down on the benches behind him. There were two other people sat on the benches whom Harry assumed to be Daily Prophet reporters. He couldn't focus on any faces though, he was feeling sick with the nerves he was dealing with.

Cornelius Fudge, the minister for Magic was sat in the centre of the front row. He normally wore a lime-green bowler hat, which today he did not wear. To his right was a square-jawed witch with short grey hair and a monocle. She looked vaguely familiar, but Harry couldn't tell where he'd seen a similar face before. To Fudge's left was another witch who was sat far enough back in the bench for her face to be covered in shadow.

"Now that the accused is here, are we ready?" Fudge asked. An eager, familiar voice sitting on the end of the Minister's row responded.

"Yes sir!" It was Percy. Harry tried to make eye contact with him, perhaps receive some sign of recognition, but had no such luck. Percy had definitely thrown everything in with the Ministry and their narrative. Harry felt a surge of anger towards him, but took a few deep breaths, readying himself for his questioning. Percy merely had his quill poised for recording all of the words that were said.

"Disciplinary hearing at the twelfth of August 1995 into offences committed under the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underaged Magic by Harry James Potter, resident at number Four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Interrogators : Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic, Amelia Susan Bones, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Dolores Jane Umbridge, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe, Percy Ignatius Weasley" Fudge listed formally, before being interrupted by a quiet voice from behind Harry.

"Witnesses for the defence, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, John Henry Potter, Sirius Orion Black and Remus John Lupin".

It was Dumbledore, striding serenely across the courtroom with a calm expression, looking up at the Minister through his half-moon spectacles. Remus, Sirius and John all looked to be in a mixture of shock and relief.

The members of the Wizengamot were either shocked, annoyed, frightened or welcoming. Clearly, in spite of being kicked off the Wizengamot, he still had friends on it. Amelia Bones, who Harry now recognized as Susan's Aunt (though her presence was more important to John) was among them.

"Ah" said a flustered Fudge. "You... you-er- got our message about the trial being moved today then"

"I missed it" said Dumbledore cheerfully. "Though through a happy coincidence, I arrived here three hours early, so there is no harm done"

"Well... I suppose we need another chair, Weasley, could you-" Fudge started.

"Not to worry, not to worry" said Dumbledore, swishing his wand and conjuring up a comfortable looking armchair which he proceeded to sit in, casually and apparently, cheerfully.

Fudge nervously shuffled his notes, before getting to the charges.

"The charges" he began, in a practiced, very stiff manner. "That Harry James Potter did knowingly and with full awareness of the illegality of his actions, having received a written official warning, produced a patronus charm in a muggle residential area, in the presence of a muggle. This is an offence under Paragraph C of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underaged Sorcery of 1875 and under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks Statue of Secrecy"

Harry gulped before Fudge continued.

"You are Harry James Potter of Number four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey?"

"Yes" said Harry.

"You received an official warning about the use of underaged magic three years ago?"

"Yes, but that-" Harry started.

"And you still conjured the patronus charm in the presence of a muggle?"

"Yes, but-"

"You were aware of the illegality of your actions? In an area filled with muggles, and in the presence of a muggle?" asked Fudge.

"Yes" Harry said, his temper starting to flare. "But it-"

"You conjured a patronus? A fully fledged patronus?" asked Amelia Bones.

"Yes, but only-" Harry started again.

"A corporeal patronus?" she asked.

"I- what?" Harry asked.

"I mean to say, was your patronus more than a vapoury apparition?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's a stag. It's always been one" Harry said, confusedly.

John stood up in spite of Remus' protests, due to Harry constantly being interrupted.

"Why wasn't I charged?" he asked.

"John, sit down!" Remus hissed, but John ignored him.

"Why weren't you charged?" asked Madam Bones.

"Yeah. I cast one too. Why wasn't I charged? It couldn't possibly have anything to do with the smear campaign against my brother, would it?" John asked loudly.

The Wizengamot began to murmur amongst themselves. Apparently a lot of them had no idea that John had also cast a patronus. Madam Bones again was the first to speak.

"Both of you can cast corporeal patronuses?" she asked, clearly impressed.

John was now just as confused as Harry.

"Yeah... mine's been a bear for more than a year, why?" he asked.

"You two are fifteen and casting corporeal patronuses. That is very impressive" she said.

There were murmurs of agreement amongst the court.

"Yeah, Remus Lupin taught us at school because of-" Harry started.

"This is not a question of how impressive the magic was!" Fudge said angrily. "In fact, the more impressive it is, the worse it is, given that this was in front of a muggle!"

The Wizengamot agreed in general, though Percy's 'holier than thou' nod spurred Harry on.

"We only did it because of the dementors!" he said before anyone could interrupt him.

The entire room fell into absolute silence.

"Dementors?" asked Madam Bones, her eyebrows rising in surprise.

"Yeah. Dementors which attacked me, John and our cousin" Harry said defiantly.

"Ah" said Fudge, a nasty smile which was eerily reminiscent of Snape's grim, satisfied smile spreading over his face. "I thought we might hear something like this"

"Dementors in Little Whinging? I don't understand" said Madam Bones.

"Don't you Amelia? I'll explain it then. This boy has had time to think of an explanation. It's awfully convenient, isn't it? How muggles can't see dementors, and yet they appear for a perfect cover for the patronus he cast?" Fudge asked.

"I'm not lying!" Harry yelled. "There were two of them, coming from opposite ends, one was even about to lower its hood and kiss my cousin!"

"Enough. I'm sorry to interrupt what I'm sure was a very well rehearsed story, but in the absence of witnesses..." Fudge said, leaving his statement open.

"What am I then?" John asked.

"Someone who will be facing charges of his own. You cannot be counted as a witness" Fudge snapped.

"You think we cast patronuses just for shits and giggles then? Minister, do you even know how physically draining a patronus is? If we were trying to break the statue of secrecy, why couldn't we just cast a levitation charm or something?" John asked.

Fudge looked extremely flustered and the Wizengamot seemed to not have considered this. They were looking slightly embarrassed. Fudge was glaring daggers at John once he'd recovered enough.

"There's another issue here I'm afraid Minister" said Sirius, standing up.

"And what would that be Black?" Fudge snarled.

"You're saying that without a witness, Harry's guilty. That means you're treating him as guilty until proven innocent. That's not how fair trials work now, is it? Though what would I know? You never gave me one" said Sirius.

Harry's heart began to soar. Between John pointing out that people didn't just cast patronuses with reckless abandon for fun, and Sirius bringing the ministry's attempted miscarriage of justice out, he was looking to be in a good spot.

"We may not be muggles, but we do guarantee our citizens the right to a fair trial. Which means that _you_ have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there were no dementors present that day. If you can't, Harry must be assumed to be innocent" said Remus.

The woman to Fudge's right, Umbridge began to squirm in her seat.

"Actually, we can play by these rules too" said Dumbledore. "We do have a witness of the presence of dementors. Aside from Dudley Dursley I mean"

Fudge looked as if he was staring death in the face. He was beyond pale and he was shaking.

"I'm afraid we don't have time. This must be dealt with quickly" he said, though his voice had lost all of its confidence. Harry's defence between Remus, Sirius and John had poked far too many holes in their argument.

"But any defendant has the right to put forth a witness, and if you won't accept John, well we will have to use our other witness" said Dumbledore. "Is that not the policy of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement?"

"True" said Madam Bones. "Very true"

Fudge gave Madam Bones a murderous glare, but she was unflinching.

"In any case, because I want justice done as swiftly as you do Minister... I have brought her with me" said Dumbledore, smiling pleasantly at Fudge.

John was trying to resist the urge to burst out laughing.

"Shall I bring her?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, Weasley you'd better do it" said Fudge hastily.

Percy left the room and returned quickly with none other than Mrs. Figg. By this time, Dumbledore had conjured another chair for her. She sat down on the edge of the chair, looking almost comically out of place.

"Full name?" Fudge asked.

"Arabella Doreen Figg" she said.

"And who exactly are you?" asked Fudge.

"I'm a resident of Little Whinging, I live close to Harry Potter" replied Mrs. Figg.

"We have no record of witches or wizards living in Little Whinging aside from Harry and John Potter" said Madam Bones.

"But I'm a squib, so you wouldn't have a record of me" said Mrs. Figg.

"Very well. Can squibs see dementors?" asked Fudge.

"Yes we can!" Mrs. Figg yelled indignantly.

"In that case, describe the attack" said Madame Bones.

Harry sat, stunned as Mrs. Figg perfectly recalled everything the dementors did and everything he and John did. She even recalled the presence of the dementors, their appearances and the eerie feeling of hopelessness they spread wherever they went.

After she was dismissed, Fudge was looking more apprehensive than ever.

"She perfectly described a dementor attack and recalled important details. I think it is no longer in question. There were dementors attacking these boys that night" said Madam Bones.

 _Susan was definitely right about her Aunt_ , John thought to himself. _She's a lot fairer than Fudge._

"But dementors in Little whinging? The odds are astronomical!" Fudge insisted.

"I don't think anyone is suggesting that the dementors were there by accident Cornelius. I think they were under orders to be there. You have heard my views on the matter" said Dumbledore.

"He's. Not. Back!" Fudge seethed, shaking with rage.

"If that is the case, then I'm sure there will be an inquiry as to why dementors were under ministry orders to attack youngsters in Little Whinging" Dumbledore pressed.

"It is not for you to decide!" Fudge snapped.

"Of course it isn't. I'm merely expressing my confidence that the ministry will do what is right" said Dumbledore happily.

The witch to Fudge's right, Umbridge leaned forwards for the first time. She was short, squat, had massive, bulging eyes, a broad, flabby face, and a very wide, flat mouth. She looked for all the world like a human toad.

"I'm sure I must have misunderstood you Professor" she started. She spoke in very girlish, sickly-sweet voice which did not fit with her appearance at all - Harry was expecting a more croak-like voice.

"But it almost sounded like you were insinuating that the ministry was behind the attack"

"Not at all. But someone was" said Dumbledore.

"We are not here to discuss the relationship between the ministry and dementors" Fudge bellowed.

"Correct Minister, pardon me. You have heard the defence, you have heard an eyewitness, and all that is left is for you to make a verdict" said Dumbledore.

Madam Bones looked around at the Wizengamot and spoke.

"Those in favour of conviction?" she asked.

Harry saw a few hands rising, Percy's, Fudge's, Umbridge's and about seven or eight others. That was nowhere near half. He was cleared!

"Those in favour of clearing the charges?" she continued. Every other hand in the room, including her own was raised.

"Clear the charges" said Fudge, as if saying so was every bit as painful as the cruciatus curse.

"Do you hear that Minister?" John asked boldly.

"What boy?" Fudge asked, looking at John in a manner not dissimilar to that of Snape.

"That sound!" said John.

Now Remus, Sirius, Harry and even Dumbledore looked quizzically at John.

"I can't hear anything" said Fudge tiredly.

"I can! Oh, I know what it is! It's the sound of crumbling narratives!" said John triumphantly. Harry and Sirius burst out laughing. Remus rolled his eyes, but couldn't pretend not to be amused. Dumbledore was smiling too. The minister looked livid.

Before any further moves could be made, Umbridge spoke again.

"And what of you?" she asked, looking John in the eye.

"What about me?" John asked.

"This boy cast a patronus charm too!" she said, pointing at John, looking to her fellow Wizengamot members.

"Yeah, in the exact same time, place and circumstances as the guy you **just cleared,** genius" John said sarcastically.

Neither Harry, nor Sirius could contain their laughter. Harry could have sworn he even saw Dumbledore's lip twitch upwards. But Dumbledore left without so much as a word or a look in Harry's direction after that.

This time though, it didn't bother Harry as much - the good-natured teasing from John and the weight lifted off his chest made everything that much better.

"Now that farce is over with, we can focus on disinfecting the most grotesque house known to wizardkind. Lucky us" Sirius quipped.

"Better than knowing Harry's being expelled for defending himself" John replied, shrugging.

"It's interesting how a lot of the Wizengamot didn't seem to know what was actually going on. I would have thought they would get everyone on the same page and coordinate against you more" Remus mused.

"Fudge isn't smart enough for that" John said dismissively.

"I wouldn't underestimate his fervour though" said Sirius.

"I suppose that's all up to the Order though now, isn't it? Monitoring the minister?" asked Harry.

"For the most part, yes. The problem is that Aurors, such as Tonks and Kingsley are going to be constantly busy, and Sirius is being given extremely mundane, inconsequential work" Remus explained.

"No surprises there. Who'd have thought that we'd be seen as conspiracy theorists before the age of sixteen?" John said dryly.

"We're taking on a government. Another reason why we're not too keen on you joining the order. Even when you're out of school" said Sirius.

"I really don't think that'll stop us when we're out of school" said Harry, raising an eyebrow.

Remus smiled.

"I know it won't" he said.

On their way back towards the surface, they came across none other than Lucius Malfoy, talking to the minister.

"Well well well... if it isn't patronus Potter" he said, sneering in just the same way his son did.

"Malfoy" Sirius said coolly, nodding his head towards him.

"The minister was just telling me about your... escape. Very snakelike of you" said Malfoy quietly.

"I'm pretty good at escaping" Harry snarled, knowing that he was there at the graveyard.

"I'm sure you don't need to be told that though" said John.

The last time they'd met, Lucius Malfoy was helping Voldemort return. Voldemort, who had murdered their parents, among countless others, and tortured them as if playing with his food. How Malfoy could look them in the eye was beyond them. Malfoy tried his best to ignore that comment, though his twitching right eye gave away the fact that it hit home. He instead turned to Remus.

"And what are you doing here Lupin? Don't animals belong in the wild?" he asked.

"They do. I am here as John's godfather. I can't say I know what business you have here though" said Remus calmly.

"Private business between the minister and I is none of your concern" Malfoy replied sharply.

"Isn't the minister a public civil servant? The public does have a right to know the nature of his meetings with other people" Sirius challenged.

"Only when I allow it" Fudge snapped.

"Only when you allow it? Wow, you're sounding more and more like a dictator by the day. Keep at it, I'm sure Hitler and Mao Zedong will be in good company when you're done" said John.

Magical or not, the names of Adolf Hitler and Mao Zedong were not unfamiliar.

"Move along! You have no business here any more!" he snapped.

"As you wish mein fuhrer" said John, causing Harry to snort with laughter for a moment.

Now that his trial was over, everything seemed lighter and funnier. Especially the fact that Mr. Weasley, when they met up with him, was dealing with jinxed toilets. Mr. Weasley meanwhile, seemed extremely relieved when Harry was cleared of everything.

"I knew they couldn't convict you on the evidence, but still..." he said.

"I know what you mean. Totally possible for them to ignore all of the evidence outright" Sirius said in agreement.

"Well now that's over with, we should just focus on dealing with school now, I think Hogwarts letters are arriving soon" said Remus, as they reached the main 'hub' of the ministry, where people arriving by all sorts of magical transportation means reached the ministry.

"Oh, before we go" said Harry, pulling out his money bag.

"What is it?" asked John.

"I promised to myself if I was cleared, I'd donate" said Harry, dropping a galleon into the fountain, where proceeds were sent to Saint Mungo's.

"That right there Harry, is the difference between you and Fudge" said Sirius proudly, clapping Harry on the back. "Thinking of others. Fudge can't see past his own need to stay in power, and here you are giving money to hospitals"

"What can we expect from a politician? Come on, let's grab some food and head back" said John.

"Well I can't join you, I have some work to do now" said Sirius.

"And I'm needed back with the others. You two can go ahead, just enjoy yourselves for a while" said Remus cheerfully, before apparating away with a loud crack.

"Alright then... Leicester Square?" John asked.

"Lead the way" said Harry, smiling. He was also feeling good that both Remus and Sirius trusted them enough to leave them to relax in London on their own. They did know the way back to Grimmaud place.

Before they actually exited the building though, they ran into a familiar face, especially for John.

"Susan! Hey!" said John.

"Oh, John! Hi Harry, how did it go?" she asked.

"I'm cleared, completely" said Harry, smiling politely. He felt slightly awkward - he'd never really spent time with her.

"That's great to hear" she said, smiling.

"So what're you doing here?" John asked.

"My Aunt's got me some work experience here. I'm tailing this Pius Thicknesse character, helping him out with day-to-day work. It's not too interesting, and he seems to be a real puppet. He does absolutely anything my Aunt says, almost like a doormat" said Susan.

"Must be useful to have that experience though" said Harry, truthfully.

"It probably will be. I just wish I was tailing someone more interesting. I've come across an auror called Kingsley Shacklebolt a few times, I really like him" she said.

"Yeah, we've met him too. Pretty charismatic as far as aurors go" John mused.

"Most of them are terrifying" Susan said in agreement.

"To hunt down dark wizards though, that makes sense" said Harry.

"I suppose it does. Anyway, I've got to get back to work, we'll probably have to catch up at school" said Susan.

"Yeah, I'll see you there" said John, as Susan nervously scurried towards wherever this Thicknesse character was.

"She looks nervous around here" Harry remarked.

"Yeah, she doesn't do too well around crowds. Must be why she's tailing one guy" said John, not wanting to spill the beans on her mild social anxiety.

Harry and John spent the rest of the morning in a coffee shop, eating baked breakfast-ish treats such as croissants. One of the baristas spent almost five minutes shamelessly flirting with John, who seemed surprisingly in control. If Harry didn't know any better, it looked like John didn't know he was being flirted with. He hadn't seen John so resistant to female flirtation since he was in his relationship with Katie.

"She thinks I'm taking my little brother out for coffee" said John, laughing as he sat down opposite Harry.

"Great" Harry replied sardonically.

"Couldn't blame her though" said John.

Harry didn't bother responding, and simply basked in the blissful normality of the situation. To think that just twelve hours ago, he was worried about a criminal trial.


	6. Prefects

**I am changing Susan Bones' family history up a little here, but not by much.**

Eventually, Harry and John both made it back to Grimmaud place, still feeling far lighter than when they left. Mrs. Weasley was the first to greet them, with Ginny, Fred and George right behind her.

"Harry got off. Cleared of all charges" said John, smiling at them.

"That's wonderful! Of course we expected it if they followed the law, but... it's just such a relief!" said Mrs. Weasley, hugging both brothers then and there.

Fred, George and Ginny began doing some sort of weird dance, chanting 'He got off! He got off!' as they went. The noise attracted Delilah to the scene, and upon figuring out what Fred, George and Ginny were on about, she smiled at her cousins, and hugged them herself.

"So where's the power couple?" John asked.

"Upstairs in your bedroom I think" said Delilah.

"Let's go tell them then" said Harry, rushing up the stairs.

As they approached the door to the bedroom, they began to hear Ron and Hermione's muffled voices through the wall. As they got closer, they could discern their exact words.

"I... I don't know Ron, are you sure it's going to fit?" Hermione asked. She sounded nervous.

John, Harry and Delilah looked at each other incredulously. Was _what_ going to fit?

"Only one way to find out, isn't there?" Ron asked rhetorically.

"Err... please don't tell me I'm the only one who thinks..." Harry whispered, trailing off.

"Nope" said John, before knocking on the door loudly, ignoring Delilah's moves to stop him.

"Who is it?" came Hermione's voice.

"It's us!" said John loudly through the door.

"Oh! Come in!" said Hermione eagerly.

Harry and John looked at each other, both of them ignoring Delilah's fierce blush.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked uncertainly.

"Of course, come in!" Hermione insisted.

John shrugged and opened the door. Harry wasn't sure whether to feel relief or amusement at what he saw. Ron was trying to put on a shirt that was definitely too small for him. He had managed to put his arm into one of the sleeves, but couldn't fit his other arm in.

"Err... what?" Harry asked. Clearly his initial impressions were wrong.

"I'll explain later, what about the hearing?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"Harry's cleared of everything" said John, happily.

"Oh, that's amazing! Of course we knew you had to be cleared, but it's still amazing!" said Hermione, breathing a sigh of relief.

"You sound far too happy for someone who expected me to get off" said Harry, smirking at her.

"Come on mate, of course she was going to be a _little_ worried" said Ron, giving up on the shirt and pulling on a more appropriately sized one. "Though you are always getting away with stuff" he added.

"Yeah I know. So... what exactly are you doing with that shirt? It looks like it's made for four year olds. Or Harry" said John.

Harry flicked John in the back of the head.

"Oh, it's nothing. I accidentally ripped one of Ron's shirts a few days ago and ordered this one. I think I misunderstood the sizes" said Hermione.

"You think?" Delilah said, holding the shirt up against Ron's torso.

"Yes I know, I got it wrong" Hermione said defensively.

"How did you rip his shirt anyway?" asked Harry.

Hermione didn't answer, and merely stood on the spot, blushing.

"Let's just say that I didn't care that she ripped my shirt" said Ron with his trademark red ears.

"Really? Hermione, I didn't think you had it in you!" said John, nudging her teasingly.

She gave John a small, almost grateful smile. Apparently John's role in their coming together let her tolerate his teasing even now, months later.

"Err... can I have that shirt? I quite like it" Harry asked.

Ron shrugged and tossed the shirt to Harrry, who caught it and thanked Ron.

Shortly afterwards, everyone in the house met in the dining room for lunch. Harry felt like even the gloomy domain that was number 12 Grimmaud place was more warm and welcoming in the wake of his victory.

"Of course with Dumbledore there on your side, they'd never convict you" said Ron happily, as he scooped a mound of mashed potatoes onto Harry's plate.

"Yeah, he hammered them. Though the thing is, I might've actually won without him" Harry mused.

"Really?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Yeah, Remus and Sirius used the whole innocent until proven guilty thing on them and they had no answer. And John pointed out that if we were trying to break the statue of secrecy, patronuses would be a terrible idea, because they're just so exhausting to cast" said Harry.

"There's more to it than that as well. Since P- the scribe was writing down everything that was said, there's now a public record of possible corruption and the smear campaign against Harry" said John. He managed to avoid the mention of Percy's name.

"Yeah, that too, plus there were a couple of others at the trial, I think they were journalists. I don't expect them to report on how Remus, John and Sirius made the ministry look so terrible, but it's definitely on record" said Harry.

"Very interesting. We might have something to work with then" Mrs. Weasley mused.

"And then Dumbledore beat them by _their_ rules with the whole guilty until proven innocent sh- rubbish" said John, trying not to swear in front of Mrs. Weasley.

"Ha!" said Ginny.

"Oh, and probably the best bit was what John said once I'd been cleared" said Harry, looking at John proudly.

"What? Oh, right!" said John, smirking.

"What did you say?" asked Delilah eagerly.

"Oh, just a bit of gloating really. I think it was funny though" said John.

"Come on John, tell us! If it was funny, who are we to not want to know?" asked George.

John grinned.

"So once Fudge cleared the charges, mind you he looked like someone was jamming a needle into his stomach as he did so" John explained, causing the people at the table to chuckle.

"I asked him if he heard a sound. He couldn't hear anything, so I told him what the sound was" said John.

"And what was that sound?" Harry asked with a knowing smile.

"It was the sound of crumbling narratives" said John, and the table let out a collective burst of laughter. "I swear he looked like he wanted to leap off his chair and try to strangle me!" John added, to another roar of laughter.

Over the next few days, in spite of Harry's charges being cleared, everything lulled back into the low-energy environment that the old Black family house fostered. Furthermore, living at the headquarters of an anti-Voldemort movement was not the exciting experience it should have been, at least for the youngsters.

True, Order members would come and go, sometimes have meals, sometimes have hushed, important sounding conversations, but Mrs. Weasley made absolutely certain that those who weren't yet out of school heard little to nothing.

The only thing which cleared the monotony was the (late) arrival of the Hogwarts booklists. Ron came holding the envelopes for his, Harry's and John's, with Fred and George behind him.

"About time too, I thought they'd forgotten" he remarked as he handed Harry and John their letters.

"Only two new ones. Standard book of spells, grade 5, by Miranda Goshawk, well we need a new one every year anyway, and Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard. Wow... that's a name" John quipped. Harry snorted as he read his Hogwarts letter for the year, but got interrupted by John.

"Fuck yes!" he yelled.

"What?" Ron asked.

"I'm Captain of the Gryffindor senior rugby team!" he said delightedly.

"Wha- you mean for years 5 through 7?" George asked.

"Yep! I've been selected for the Hogwarts senior team too!" he added.

"Wow John! That's brilliant!" said Ron. John was one of two fifth years to make the senior Hogwarts rugby team, the other one being Justin Finch-Fletchley. Being Captain for Gyrffindor's senior team as a fifth year though, was incredible.

"Great, we have to take orders from you?" Fred teased.

"If I let you on the team" John shot back, laughing.

Before any further discussion over John's new positions, something small and metal fell out of Ron's envelope. Ron stared at it in shock.

"No way" said George, being the first person aside from Ron to spot what it was.

"Prefect? _Prefect_?" Ron asked to no one in particular.

"There must've been some mistake!" said Fred, smirking.

Harry didn't say anything. He felt a strange, sinking feeling in his stomach. He had hoped to have been chosen as the prefect.

"We thought you'd have been a cert!" said George, looking at Harry.

"Then again the mad stuff might've counted against him" Fred pointed out.

"You say that as if Ron wasn't there too" said John, raising an eyebrow.

"True... Maybe Dumbledore's just gone off his rocker?" George offered.

"Nah, I mean Ron's not exactly a model student, but he's way more responsible than me!" said John, laughing.

"Oh, no one was expecting it to be you, believe me" said Fred, clapping John on the back.

"Ickle Ronniekins the prefect... mum's going to be revolting" said George, passing the badge to Harry. Ron hadn't yet touched it.

It was a handsome little red badge with gold trimmings and the word 'prefect' written in gold also.

"This means Ron, that you're a better combination of academics and trustworthiness than any of the other Gryffindor boys. Nice one. Hermione might even let you into her pants for this" said John, elbowing Ron playfully.

Ron gave John an appreciative smile.

"Thanks mate" he said.

That exchange made Harry feel very ashamed of himself. He should have been happy for Ron, not annoyed that he wasn't chosen. Besides, even though it was an achievement, it didn't change anything ultimately.

"Speaking of, who out of Hermione and Delilah do you think got it?" Harry asked.

"Probably Hermione. More of a stickler for the rules than Delilah. Though I daresay Delilah would be a better prefect than any of the boys in your year" said Fred.

"Definitely" said John, smirking.

Before any further words could be exchanged, Hermione burst into the room, with Delilah in tow, and her eyes immediately fell upon Harry, holding Ron's badge.

"Did you - I knew it! I got it too, Harry, me too!" she said excitedly, holding her prefect badge.

"It's not me" said Harry, thrusting the badge into Ron's hand.

"Wh-what?" Hermione asked.

"Ron's prefect, not me" Harry insisted.

"Uh oh" John whispered to Fred, smirking at him.

"Ron? Are you sure? But..." Hermione stuttered.

"It's my name on the letter" said Ron, gritting his teeth.

"I..." Hermione started, looking quite bewildered. "That's - wow, well done Ron, it's really-"

"Unexpected?" Fred asked.

"No!" said Hermione, blushing. "No, it's not, Ron's done... he's really-" she started.

"Smooth Hermione. Very smooth. Keep digging" John quipped.

Hermione had the grace to look very guilty.

"What's the world come to when John fucking Potter is more proud of Ron being a prefect than Hermione Granger? And less surprised to boot?" Fred quipped.

"Complete madness, that's what it's come to" said George.

The door then opened wider, and Mrs. Weasley was the next to enter the room.

"Ginny said the booklists have come at last, give them to me and I'll get the books for all of you. Oh, and Ron, I'll need to get you some new pyjamas, those are too short for you. What colour would you like?" she asked.

"Red and gold I reckon. They'll have to match his badge" said George, smirking at his mother.

"Badge?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"His shiny new prefect's badge" said Fred.

"Prefect? Ronnie, you're a prefect! Oh, that's wonderful! I'm so proud!" she said slightly tearfully, enveloping Ron in a bone crushing hug. "That's a fourth prefect in our family!" she gushed.

"You might want to note Hermione, that this is how you react to your boyfriend's achievements" Delilah said, smirking at Hermione, who glared furiously at her in response.

"What'll it be then? We gave Percy an owl!" said Mrs. Weasley. Harry stared at her in shock. It was the first time she'd said Percy's name without threatening to burst into tears.

Ron stared at her for a different reason. He didn't expect her to say that at all.

"Err... I haven't thought about it" he said.

"A set of quidditch pads maybe?" Harry offered, since he and John had bought Ron a broom a while back.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea!" said Ron.

"Quidditch pads it is then!" Mrs. Weasley said happily.

"Loads of achievements here today. Hermione's the other prefect and I'm the captain of the Gryffindor senior rugby team and I'm on the Hogwarts senior team too" said John matter-of-factly.

Mrs. Weasley looked almost ready to faint.

"Wow John! That's fantastic!" said Delilah.

"We're quite the adept clan, aren't we?" John quipped.

"Well done John! I can't wait until the others get back, they'll be so proud!" said Mrs. Weasley, referring to Remus, Sirius, Bill and Mr. Weasley.

"That they will be" Harry mused. Even though he wasn't quite as upset as when he first found out that Ron was a prefect, he was feeling slightly left out in all of these achievements. Delilah didn't seem to have that problem though.

"I have a lot to do now it seems, oh, another prefect, I'm just..." Mrs. Weasley muttered to herself happily as she moved out of earshot.

"You don't mind if we don't hug you Ronniekins?" George asked.

"We can curtsey if you prefer" Fred offered.

"Oh shut up" Ron snapped.

"You going to give us detention?" George asked with an evil grin plastered on his face.

"He could to be fair" John mused. "Wouldn't be surprised if he did it just to get back at practical jokes you pull on him"

"We'll let up. Just a little" Fred said, winking before the pair of them apparated away.

"Hermione... you'll want to watch out. I think Ron might cheat on you with John" said Delilah, laughing.

"I don't think anyone would be surprised though. I mean everyone knows Ron and I have had some tension going on from the start" said John, winking at Ron, who laughed.

Apparently his mother's and John's reactions to him being made a prefect had overwritten Hermione's in his mind.

"You two did always have quite the bromance. It was only a matter of time before it became a romance" Harry said in a sing-song voice.

The light-hearted teasing did lift Ron's mood, but not Hermione's. She still looked quite ashamed of herself.

"Let's go and recommend some brands to your mum" said John.

"Yeah, sure" said Ron, and the pair of them dashed out of the room to catch up with Mrs. Weasley, leaving Harry with Hermione and Delilah.

"You're probably going to want to err... find a way to make up for that" said Harry to Hermione.

"I know" Hermione mumbled. "It was all a joke, but John does have a habit of being more sensitive to Ron's feelings than me, doesn't he? Completely ridiculous, John's not meant to be the sensitive one out of us"

"Yeah, but that's because Ron and John are weirdly similar" Delilah pointed out. "It's actually kind of scary sometimes. They were raised by completely different people, and then you look at them and think that they're brothers who just look like the opposite parents with the way they go on"

"Yeah, Ron's probably got more in common with John than I do. Sure you'll have to make it up to Ron, but don't overthink it" said Harry.

"I'm sure a long, heartfelt snog and a 'congratulations Ron' will do just fine" Delilah said, smirking.

"Oh, and 'I can't wait to patrol with you. Just the two of us, alone at night', I'm sure he won't mind that" Harry added. Hermione started to blush. Apparently, she hadn't considered that.

Ron and John returned by the time Delilah and Hermione had left to join Ginny for some other activity. Harry turned to Ron to finally properly congratulate him.

"Listen mate, well done on this" said Harry honestly.

Ron smiled slightly shyly.

"I really thought it'd be you to be honest" he said.

"I've caused too much trouble. Not exactly as bad as John, but... yeah" said Harry.

"As if I haven't" Ron laughed.

"True. Maybe you're just more responsible. Not that a couple of irresponsible gits like us would be able to tell the difference" said John, causing the other two to laugh.

"Shame Hermione didn't see it that way" said Ron, and with that, both Harry and John fell into silence.

"Hey, I'm sure if you let her explain herself you'll be okay" said Harry.

"Maybe" Ron mumbled.

* * *

Mrs. Weasley returned from Diagon Alley at around six that evening with a massive bag filled with books and another one containing Ron's new Quidditch pads.

"We can also use them for sparring. You won't have to use mine and I can wear my own pads at the same time" John pointed out.

"Don't bother trying them on now, I want everyone downstairs" said Mrs. Weasley.

It didn't take anyone long to figure out why. Down in the dining room, there were two banners that Mrs. Weasley had apparently laid out.

 _Congratulations Ron and Hermione - New Prefects_

 _Congratulations John - Captain of Gryffindor rugby_

"I thought we should have a bit of a party instead of a sit-down dinner tonight" said Mrs. Weasley happily.

"Yeah. Yeah, that'll work" said John, looking around the room which had been modestly but well decorated.

Eventually, the room had filled up with Order members everywhere. Tonks, Sirius, Mundungus, Bill, Mr. Weasley, Kingsley, Remus and Moody had all made appearances.

Moody shuffled towards Ron, who was discussing Gryffindor's rugby tactics for that year.

"And we'll be learning how to lift this year too, oh hey professor" said John.

"Not a professor, am I?" he asked gruffly.

"Force of habit" said John shrugging.

"So, a prefect eh? Good job" he said. Ron beamed. "Position of power. Seems like Dumbledore's got a high opinion of your toughness. People in positions of power have to know how to take a hex"

"Err... yeah" said Ron, raising an eyebrow. He highly doubted whether he'd be hexed on prefect duties.

Moody continued to move along, headed for the chicken. John then realized that Ron and Hermione still hadn't addressed their personal elephant in the room. Hermione was talking earnestly to Remus about elf-rights and its parallels to anti-werewolf legislation.

"It's not at all different in my eyes, it's about making werewolves and elves 'the others' and justifying the ability to look down on them" she explained.

John nudged Ron and nodded towards Hermione.

"Wait until she's done on the elf-rights spiel" said John.

"As if she'll ever be done" said Ron, smirking.

John shrugged.

"Can't hurt to hope" said John, smirking back, before joining Harry for a butterbeer. Both of them heard Kingsley's loud, deep voice over everyone else's.

"I can't figure out why Dumbledore didn't make him a prefect. With the daily prophet going after him so often, he'd need the confidence boost. It's what I'd do" he said.

"He'll definitely have had his reasons" said Sirius in response.

Both Harry and John had to pretend that they hadn't heard that conversation, though with Moody giving them a photo of the original Order of the Phoenix, a good enough distraction was provided.

Moody named everyone in the photo, and more importantly, their fates.

A man named Benjy Fenwick was found in pieces. Gideon Prewett and his brother Fabian fought five death eaters at once before they were killed. Marlene McKinnon was killed two weeks after the photo was taken. Frank and Alice Longbottom were tortured into insanity. Edgar Bones, brother of Amelia, and Susan's father was murdered by Voldemort himself. The same went for Dorcas Meadowes.

So many happy faces were looking up at them, not knowing the terrible fates that awaited them, their parents included. Their parents were stood behind Dumbledore, aside Remus, Sirius and Pettigrew.

Moody thought it was a treat, and in a way it was. But it was more disturbing than anything. Seeing so many good people who were now dead or in the Longbottom's case, no longer themselves, was eerie. John and Harry tore their eyes away from the photograph and surveyed the scene before them. It wasn't so different. People, good people who were ready to fight surrounded them, but for the first time, Harry thought to himself, not everyone in that room would survive.

It was a depressing thought.

So depressing in fact, that neither Hermione's tearful apology to Ron, nor their subsequent shockingly passionate kiss properly registered with him.

John handled the sight of the original Order better than Harry and went to get more butterbeer and started a conversation with Ginny, but Harry felt the need to leave and be alone for a moment. He and Ginny looked on in a mixture of shock and mock-disgust at Delilah, who was now talking to George in what appeared to be a very flirtatious manner. She was laughing quite loudly at something he'd said and was twirling her hair.

"She couldn't be any more obvious if she tried. I could've sworn she was still with Daphne?" John mused.

"We'll ask her later" said Ginny.

As Harry tip-toed up the stairs, he began to hear sobbing from a room just past the elf heads. He stopped to listen closer. It sounded like Mrs. Weasley.

"Hello?" Harry asked.

No response.

Harry opened the door and nearly fainted at the sight that greeted him. Softly illuminated against the moonlight creeping through the window lay Ron. His eyes were open yet unseeing, and he was motionless. Dead.

A cold feeling of horror, dread and shock washed over Harry, who suddenly found it difficult to breathe. Ron couldn't be dead...

 _But wait_ , thought Harry. _Ron's snogging Hermione downstairs right now! He's about as alive as he'll ever be! It's a boggart._

"Ridikkulus!" Cried Mrs. Weasley.

The dead Ron became a dead Bill.

"No! Ridikkulus! Ridikkulus! Ridikkulus!"

Dead Mr. Weasley. Dead George. Dead Ginny.

"Hey! Mrs. Weasley, look at me!" Harry said loudly, stepping closer to her, staring at the boggart which by now had transformed into his own dead body. "Just get out of here, let someone else handle it!" he said, before staring down at his own corpse. It was an extremely strange thing to see.

Mere moments later, Sirius and Remus had arrived to see what the commotion was about. Lupin looked between Mrs. Weasley, Harry and the boggart and understood what was happening immediately. He stepped between the boggart and Mrs. Weasley, and its form shifted into that of the moon (which they once mistook for some kind of silver orb).

"Ridikkulus" he said very loudly and clearly. The orb vanished in a puff of smoke.

Mrs. Weasley's tears had begun to subside.

"Oh, what must you think of me? Not even capable of dealing with a boggart?" she wailed.

"Molly, look at me. Everything is fine" said Lupin firmly.

"I- I'm just so worried all the t-time! Half the family's in the order, Percy's not talking to us! W-what if something happens to him and we never make up with him? What if something happens to Arthur and me? What'll happen to Ron and Ginny?" Mrs. Weasley wailed.

"Listen Molly" Sirius piped up, after staring at the spot of carpet where Harry's corpse was mere moments ago. "We're not in the same situation as we were last time"

"Sirius is right, we have more warning than last time. You weren't in the order back then. We were outnumbered twenty to one, being picked off one by one. There was a spy in out midst. This time, we know what Voldemort-" Remus started, though Mrs. Weasley let out a frightened squeak upon the sound of his name.

"You'll have to get used to that name one of these days. We know what Voldemort is up to. I can't promise anything, I can't promise anyone isn't going to get hurt. But It won't be as bad as last time with Fabian and Gideon" said Remus.

Harry looked confusedly at Sirius.

"Her brothers" Sirius said grimly.

Harry's eyes widened. Mrs. Weasley may not have been in the original Order, but her brothers were. Even though it took five death eaters to kill her brothers, they were still dead.

"Just being silly" Mrs. Weasley said once Sirius handed her a handkerchief.

Harry didn't think entirely think she was 'just being silly'. Thinking of the photograph in his pocket, all the smiling faces which now would never see, smile or laugh ever again, from his parents, to Gideon and Fabian Prewett, to Susan's father. _No,_ Harry thought. _Mrs. Weasley was not being silly at all. It was a very rational and very real thing to be afraid of._

As he closed the bedroom door a few minutes later, Harry had never felt so old in his life.


	7. Meeting Luna Lovegood

The next morning, Harry was woken up unceremoniously by John, who simply shoved him off the bed and onto the floor.

"Ugh! What the-" Harry started, dazed.

"You said you'd be up an hour ago you idiot, hurry up" said John. Harry looked at the clock and realized that it was already nine, which spurred him into action.

It wasn't long after when Mrs. Weasley was explaining that they would leave their luggage their, as well as the owls, that Mad-eye would be dealing with it. They were also to be travelling with a guard, though the guard was for Harry's purpose.

"What? I thought Voldemort was lying low" Harry said irritably to Hermione. "So what, Voldemort's hiding behind dustbins waiting to do me in?"

"I don't know Harry, it's just what Mad-eye said" Hermione said impatiently.

They all walked to King's Cross station, with a few Order members coming with them, such as Tonks, Sirius, Mr. Weasley and Remus. Sirius was walking around in his dog form, chasing pigeons around playfully. Harry couldn't stop himself from laughing - even though Sirius was working at the ministry, any time spent outside Grimmaud place was a good time to him. Furthermore, Harry doubted that working at the ministry was synonymous with freedom with the way Fudge went on.

When they'd arrived, Moody was waiting with all of their luggage, which they duly loaded onto the train.

"Remember, be careful of what you put in writing. If in doubt, don't write it at all" said Moody.

"Do remember to write though, and be good" said Mrs. Weasley, looking pointedly at Fred, George and John, who gave her mock-innocent smiles.

Sirius, whilst people weren't looking, transformed back into his human form.

"Don't be too good" he said, smirking. "Have a good time"

"When do we not? Bye everyone" said Harry.

"Well we have business to discuss with Lee. Be seeing you" said Fred.

"Bye Fred, bye George" said Delilah, who was staring after George for a split second.

"Uhh... Delilah, I thought you were with Daphne? We saw you flirting with George yesterday, don't deny it" said Ginny.

"I'm not going to deny it, but don't mention her name" said Delilah, with gritted teeth.

"What did she do?" asked John. Daphne and Delilah had been very discreet, so no one was particularly aware of what they got up to.

"Broke up with me in a letter. Said that her parents found out and disapproved of my... parentage" she said grimly.

"Wow... that... ouch" said Ron.

"Yeah. Ouch" said Delilah sharply.

"She was always kind of timid. I suppose having pureblood supremacists as parents would make her a bit apprehensive. I can't completely blame her" John mused.

"You're _not_ taking her side!" Delilah said incredulously.

"No, but John has a point, you can't completely blame her. At the same time, while you're at Hogwarts, there's nothing stopping you two. I don't know" Hermione offered.

"Whatever. At least I know George wouldn't do something that stupid" Delilah grumbled.

"Oh I don't know, this is George we're talking about" said Ron.

"Well firstly, he's not as brazen as Fred. Secondly, he might do stupid things, but mostly for his own amusement. He's not going to outright hurt me like that" said Delilah.

John, Ron and Harry shared uncomfortable looks. Between Machado and Daphne, Delilah wasn't having the best romantic luck.

"Well you can't go too far wrong with a Weasley" said Hermione cheerfully, grabbing Ron's hand. Ron's ears went red.

"All that melodramatic crap aside, let's just find a compartment and sit down" said John.

"Err... we can't" said Ron.

"We have to go to the prefect's compartment at the front" said Hermione apologetically.

"Oh. Fine" said Harry.

"We don't have to stay there the whole time. We just get instructions from the head boy and girl, and patrol the trains every now and again" Hermione explained.

"I'm not Percy, if I had my choice, I'd be here" said Ron.

"I know" said John, smirking. "Go on, we'll see you later"

John seemed to be taking almost everything that had been going on better than Harry. They'd never traveled on the Hogwarts express without Ron. It gave Harry an odd sense of loss, even though he knew he was just being silly.

"Come on, we can find one and save them seats" said Ginny, who set off down the train.

Harry also couldn't help but notice the fact that he was being stared at by a lot of students. He had grown accustomed to this over the years, but this time he couldn't help but wonder how many of them had bought into the Ministry's smear campaign suggesting that he was unstable. They eventually ran into Neville, who was looking somewhat annoyed.

"Everywhere's full, I can't find a seat" he said.

Ginny looked at the compartment behind Neville and raised her eyebrow.

"That one isn't. Only Loony Lovegood's in there" she said.

Neville mumbled something about not wanting to disturb anyone.

"She's not that bad" Ginny laughed. "Come on"

She opened the door and smiled at the girl inside. She had long, straggly blonde hair, huge, pale silvery-grey eyes, earrings which were made of what appeared to be radishes, and a magazine in her hand, which upon closer inspection, was upside down. All in all, she looked eccentric, to put it mildly. Harry felt like he understood why Neville didn't want to be in that compartment.

"Hi Luna, can we take these seats?" Ginny asked.

Her large eyes looked around at the newcomers, resting on Harry, before she nodded.

"Thanks" said Ginny. John walked into the compartment first so that he could haul the trunks into the overhead luggage racks. Luna was watching both him and Harry with interest.

"You're rather strong. I've seen you in Quidditch and rugby matches" she said matter-of-factly. John didn't know whether to smile at the complement or feel confused over how she started a conversation. "It's a shame wrackspurts prefer to find hosts in muscular people"

As John lifted Ginny's trunk into the overhead compartment, he looked at her with a very confused expression. Ginny shrugged. Luna turned back to her magazine to read it. Harry had no idea how, given that it was upside-down. She also seemed to have an uncanny ability to stare. She didn't blink as often as most people.

"Good summer?" Ginny asked her.

"Yes, it was quite enjoyable" she said. her voice was serene, high-pitched and somewhat dreamlike. "You're Harry Potter" said Luna, turning to Harry.

"So we've heard" John quipped, causing Neville and Ginny to chuckle. Harry just had no idea what to make of this girl.

"You must be his brother John" said Luna. John nodded. "And I don't know who you are" she added, turning to Neville.

"No-one" Neville said hurriedly.

"Don't be ridiculous. This is Neville Longbottom. She's Luna Lovegood, she's in my year. She's a Ravenclaw" said Ginny.

"Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure" chirped Luna.

Luna once again raised her magazine high enough to hide her face. It was still upside-down. Harry and Neville exchanged quizzical looks, before turning to John, who silently mouthed 'what the fuck' to them. Ginny silently giggled.

"Oh, guess what I got for my birthday?" Neville asked.

"Another remembrall?" Harry asked.

"No, though I lost my old one a while back. I could definitely do with another one... no, check this out" said Neville, digging out one of the most bizarre looking plants they'd seen since mandrakes. It appeared to be a small, grey cactus covered in boils as opposed to spines.

"It's a Mimbulus mimbletonia" he said proudly.

Harry stared at it like one would stare at roadkill. It was repulsive, but fascinating, he couldn't take his eyes off it.

"It's really rare, I don't think even Hogwarts' greenhouses have them. My great uncle Algie gave it to me" he explained.

Neville's favourite subject may have been herbology, but this plant seemed to be stretching things. What would anyone want with them?

"Er... does it do anything?" Harry asked.

"Loads of stuff! It's got an amazing defence mechanism! Hold Trevor for me" said Neville, handing the toad to Harry.

"Wait!" John said suddenly.

"What?" Neville asked, holding a quill towards one of the boils on the plant.

"Neville, I don't know anything about this thing, but I know about horned lizards and bombadier beetles. Those boils are probably filled with some nasty liquid, right?" John asked.

"Yeah" said Neville, looking slightly astonished.

"That liquid's probably kept at a really high pressure, I don't think you want to pierce those sacs" John advised.

"What sort of liquid's in there?" asked Ginny.

"Stinksap. It's not poisonous, it just discourages anyone who wants to eat them" Neville explained.

"Yeah... I guarantee if you pop one of those things, stinksap will get everywhere" said John.

"That's what I'm trying to show you!" said Neville.

"I don't think you want to... it'll be kept at a high enough pressure to burst out everywhere. Imagine popping a balloon, but it's filled with stinksap instead of air" John explained.

"Hmm... you're probably right" Neville said. "How did you know?" he asked.

"It's like I said, based on what I know about horned lizards and bombadier beetles. They store liquids at high pressure and squirt them at predators" said John.

"How do you know this stuff? I thought you read about as much as Ron?" Ginny asked.

"Well I'm really good at transfiguration, and McGonagall gave me... this 'project' last year. I learned loads about animals doing it" said John.

"Ooh, what were you doing?" Ginny asked.

John looked at Harry and grinned proudly.

"You'd all better get to the other side of the compartment. You too Luna" said John.

"Oh really? What are you going to do?" she asked.

"Just watch. Oh, and don't tell anyone about it. I'm planning on making a big show of it at some point" said John, as everyone moved to the other side of the compartment.

With no further delay, John's body sprouted thick, brown fur, and his body became more than six times heavier instantly, and standing on all fours, was John's animagus bear form.

"What!" Ginny exclaimed. Neville let out a yelp of surprise, and Luna looked beyond fascinated.

John morphed back into his human form and grinned.

"Kodiak bear. When I registered, the ministry measured me. I'm five and a half feet tall on all fours, and ten on my hind legs. Plus I weigh more than half a tonne" he explained.

"That... that's incredible!" Neville said breathlessly.

"It'll make you more attractive to wrackspurts though. Be careful" Luna advised in her dreamy, serene voice.

"Er... yeah, wrackspurts" said John.

At that exact moment, the compartment door slid open, and standing in the doorway was a very pretty young witch with long, shiny black hair. As soon as Harry saw her, he could feel his cheeks heating up - it was Cho Chang.

"Hi Harry... is this a bad time?" she asked. Apparently she had heard the yells and something about wrackspurts, but not seen John's transformation.

"Uhh... hi" said Harry, feeling very stupid.

"Well... I just thought I'd say hello. I'll see you later" she said, before turning and walking away. Harry mentally slapped himself. Though he would have preferred to be in a room filled with cool people and having them laugh at a joke he'd told, as opposed to Neville and Loony Lovegood. At least John's presence, and to a lesser extent, Ginny's raised the 'cool factor' of the compartment. Ron's presence would certainly have made it better too.

Ron didn't appear with Hermione for at least another hour, and both of them looked exhausted and disgruntled.

"Blimey I'm starving" said Ron. By this time, the food trolley had passed, and John threw him a pair of pumpkin pasties.

"Cheers" he said, collapsing into a spot right next to John and closing his eyes as if he'd had a particularly trying morning.

"So there are two prefects in every year and house for fifth years and above. A boy and a girl. Guess who Slytherin's are" Hermione said angrily before taking a seat.

"Malfoy" Harry said at once.

"However did you know" Ron asked sarcastically.

"And that total cow Pansy Parkinson. How she managed it is beyond me, it'd be a complement to call her as intelligent as a troll" Hermione added.

"Who are Hufflepuff's?" asked John.

"Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillan" Ron said.

"Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil for Ravenclaw" said Hermione.

"And the prefects can patrol the train every now and again. Can't wait to get Crabbe and Goyle for something" Ron said, rubbing his hands excitedly.

"You can't abuse your power Ron!" Hermione said indignantly.

"I won't! Just want to make sure I get his mates before he gets mine! Besides, I won't punish them for no reason" said Ron.

"Before he gets yours? You don't have to be so petty" Hermione challenged.

"Oh come on Hermione, imagine making Goyle do lines! He hates writing!" said Ron, before adopting a caveman-like pose, and changing his voice surprisingly convincing to a Goyle-esque grunt. "I - must - not - look - like - a - baboon's - backside!"

Everyone laughed, but Luna seemed to find it far funnier than everyone else. She laughed far harder and louder than the others, so much so that Ron stared at her, and then looked around at the others, who were now laughing at his expression.

"Are... are you taking the mickey?" Ron asked.

"Baboon... backside!" Luna choked out through her laughter, holding her ribs.

"Interesting girl, isn't she" John quietly asked Ron, grinning.

"Yeah... quite the oddball" Ron muttered back.

Harry expected this to happen, but that didn't make him any less annoyed to see the face of Draco Malfoy alongside Crabbe and Goyle.

"What're you doing here?" Harry asked with no small amount of hostility.

"Just checking on the prefect power couple" said Malfoy, sneering at Ron and Hermione.

"Why? Jealous? Can't blame you, I'd be embarrassed to have a toad as ugly as _your_ girlfriend", said Ron, wrapping an arm around Hermione protectively, as if Malfoy was ready to pounce on her.

"You say that as if your pet mudblood's a looker" Malfoy retorted.

"Err... she is" said John. "Actually, I recall you saying that she 'isn't looking too bad' about a year ago at the world cup. What happened to that?"

"I distinctly remember you looking me up and down as if I was a piece of meat" Hermione added.

"Maybe I've grown in my opinions. Maybe I was just messing with you" said Malfoy.

"Well whatever the case, no one wants you here. And I don't just mean this compartment, I mean this planet. Though I'll take whatever I can get" said Harry, causing John to snort.

"I'm a prefect Potter. Better watch your manners, you need to listen to me" said Malfoy, puffing out his chest which had his badge pinned to it.

"And there are two prefects in this compartment. Get out" said Hermione forcefully.

"You're just lucky I have a train to patrol" said Malfoy.

"Lucky? I could kick the crap out of the three of you without a wand" said John.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow.

"I'll be honest Potter. You probably could beat any one of us in a fight. Maybe even two of us. But all three? You've got quite the ego there" said Malfoy.

"You're one to talk. But yeah, I could. I won't tell you how, but I'm sure you'll find out sooner or later" said John, grinning evilly at Malfoy, who appeared to shrink before him.

Harry knew exactly what John was referring to, and smirked.

"Is that a threat?" Malfoy asked shakily.

"Nope. Just pointing out that there's nothing about the three of you that frightens me. Actually scratch that, your stupidity is pretty scary" said John.

"If Gryffindor had points this year, I'd be taking them off right now" said Malfoy angrily.

"But we don't. Now leave, as you said, you have a train to patrol" said Hermione. Malfoy didn't overstay his welcome.

"Can't believe idiots like that actually exist" said Ron.

"Well they do, and we have to tolerate him for now. We'll have to work with him too" said Hermione, scrunching up her nose.

"If I find anything that takes away that badge of his..." Ron said wishfully.

"One can hope of course" Ginny added.

"We're getting close" said Harry, recognizing some of the landmarks near the castle.

"Brilliant, I really need to eat" said John.

"You always need to eat" said Delilah, rolling her eyes.

"Have you seen how hard the bloke exercises? I still don't know how I keep up" said Ron, laughing. He felt Hermione squeezing his bicep and smirked. He turned to face her and saw her grinning mischievously at him.

"Well... maybe I do" he whispered to her.

"Get a room" Ginny sighed.

"Not to worry, we're not doing anything here" said Hermione sweetly.

"Yeah right, because groping my brother in front of everyone is 'not doing anything'. Bravo" said Ginny, wrinkling her nose.

"Groping? Didn't realize grabbing my bicep was groping" Ron retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"You went with John to the Yule ball" said Luna.

Hermione raised her eyebrow.

"Yes... I know I did" she said.

"You looked like you were having fun, but you left with Ron. Is that why you're together?" asked Luna.

"Yes..." Hermione said slowly.

Luna nodded and went back to her magazine.

Harry took a look at the magazine and realized (even though it was held upside down) that the person on the front was a bad cartoon of Fudge. He recognized him by the bowler hat.

"Do you mind if I have a look at that?" Harry asked.

"Not at all, go ahead" said Luna, handing Harry the magazine.

Instead of what Harry was hoping for, a news outlet trying to tell the truth about Fudge and the corruption within the ministry, all he found were insane articles insisting that Fudge cooks goblins into pies, that Sirius was leading a double life as Stubby Boardman, the lead singer of a group called the hobgoblins, and reports of obviously fictional creatures.

"Anything good in there?" Ron asked.

"Of course not" said Hermione dismissively. "The Quibbler's rubbish, everyone knows that"

"Excuse me" said Luna icily. "My father is the editor in chief"

"Oh... well... it's got- got some interesting..." she tried, looking particularly embarrassed.

"I'll have that back thank you" said Luna, and Harry handed the magazine back to her.

"You're on a roll Hermione, between your reaction to Ron being a prefect and this... I reckon you should think before you speak" said John, grinning in a way which he knew would be unbearably annoying to Hermione.

Harry, Ginny and Delilah laughed, and Ron looked to be struggling not to laugh himself.

"Oh be quiet" said Hermione quietly.

Eventually, the train made its stop at Hogsmeade station, and Harry quickly left the train with his luggage, hoping to see Hagrid on the station, listening out for his booming voice calling for the first years.

However, he did not hear his voice, but the voice of Professor Grubbly-Plank.

Harry turned to Ginny.

"Where's Hagrid?" he asked.

"I don't know" said Ginny, frowning.

"He can't have left" said Hermione worriedly.

"I don't think so, he might still be doing that thing for Dumbledore" said John, avoiding saying outright that Hagrid was on a mission for the Order.

"Yeah. That's it" said Harry, mostly just trying to convince himself.

"Let's go find a carriage before they get filled up" said Ron.

Harry followed Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Luna to the trail where the carriages picked students up. Delilah, Neville and John were bringing up the rear. A carriage arrived, but unlike previous years, they were not pulling themselves.

The animal pulling it was one of the weirdest creatures Harry had ever seen. It looked slightly similar to a horse, but it was by no means a friendly, furry mammal. These creatures had black, scaly reptilian coats which clung closely to their skeletons. They didn't seem to have any muscle or fat to speak of. They also had gigantic wings. They paid Harry almost no attention, implying that they were domesticated.

"What..." Harry whispered.

"Yes?" Ginny asked.

"Can't you see them?" Harry asked.

"See what?" asked Ginny.

"Those... horse things! Pulling the carriage!" said Harry.

Ginny looked quite alarmed, staring at Harry as if he had completely lost his mind.

"No... Harry, are you alright?" Ginny asked.

"I see them" said John, frowning.

"What? What are you looking at?" Hermione asked.

"Weird horse things with wings. They're pulling the carriages" said John.

"But... why can't we see them?" Delilah asked worriedly.

"Beats me" said Harry.

"I've been able to see them since my first year. Don't worry. You're just as sane as I am" said Luna, climbing into the carriage.

Neither Harry nor John felt any better about being able to see them, and they exchanged a bewildered look.

Harry, Neville, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Delilah joined her in the carriage, though there was no space for John.

"I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself" John quipped when he was looked at by the others.

John looked behind himself and saw Susan waving at him.

"Yeah. I'll be fine"


	8. Umbridge's First Play

Hagrid wasn't seen at the great hall that night at all, and the most likely explanation according to Harry, was that he was still out doing whatever task Dumbledore had put him up to. What that actually meant however, remained to be seen.

There was another new face at the table aside from Professor Grubbly-Plank however. Of course it was to be expected, as there was a new teacher needed. It was a woman with a very wide face, wearing a ridiculous pink fluffy coat and hat, giving the hall a sickly sweet smile.

Harry elbowed Hermione.

"That's that Umbridge woman, from my hearing. She works for Fudge" he whispered.

"For Fudge? But... no... it can't be" Hermione muttered to herself.

Harry didn't bother asking her what she was talking about, as the chair normally occupied by Hagrid was now occupied by another, Professor Grubbly-Plank. That meant the first years had arrived. Sure enough, they were led through into the hall moments later by McGonagall.

Strangely however, the sorting hat did not sing a song that it would usually sing. It normally sang about the four houses and the qualities they look for, but this time was different. It sang about perils, the importance of friendship and union, and that danger was afoot.

"That was new" said John dryly.

"Too right. I wonder what that's all about? Sounded like a warning" said Harry.

"I wonder if the hat has given warnings before" Delilah wondered.

"Well it's as old as the school. Probably if the hat thinks something's going on it gives warnings" Ron mused.

They did not get to discuss the hat or its song though, as Umbridge stepped forwards and cleared her throat very deliberately.

"Hem hem" she said.

Dumbledore, who had stood up, ready to give announcements, turned around in surprise. He hadn't been interrupted before when addressing the school. Umbridge's interruption in fact, was for her to give the school a speech. To Harry, the speech sounded like a load of rubbish. It sounded like a series of banal platitudes about her philosophy regarding teaching at Hogwarts that year, but neither he, nor most of the students seemed to care.

Once she had finished, Dumbledore politely clapped, and the staff and students followed, though the applause was extremely unenthusiastic and it didn't last long.

"Thank you Professor Umbridge. That was most illuminating" he said, before going on with the announcements.

"Illuminating is right" Hermione said in a low voice.

"Illuminating? You can't have enjoyed that rubbish?" Ron asked incredulously. "That was the most unbelievably dull speech I've ever heard, and I grew up with Percy in my house"

"I didn't enjoy it, but it does explain a lot" said Hermione.

"Explain what? It sounded like a load of waffle to me" Harry said tiredly.

"There was important stuff in that waffle you know" Hermione pointed out.

"Like what?" Ron asked.

"Progress for progress' sake must be discouraged? Pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited?" Hermione said.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked curiously.

"It means" Hermione started, gritting her teeth. "That the ministry is interfering at Hogwarts"

"Not just that" Delilah added.

"They're micromanaging. Interfering is just scratching the surface" said John.

"They want to control all of the ins and outs of what happens here" Delilah explained.

"Great. Bloody lovely" Ron grumbled.

"Not like I'm going to take that horseshit lying down" John said defiantly.

"For once I'll turn a blind eye to that. Come on Ron, we need to take the first years up" said Hermione.

"Oh yeah. We'll see you up there" said Ron.

"Yeah" said Harry, looking at the group of small, terrified looking youngsters. Surely he didn't look that young when he first arrived? Harry gave them an encouraging smile, but upon seeing the looks on their faces, and the faces of other students, the smile left his face instantly. He should've expected this.

The last time the student population had seen him, he was sobbing over a corpse and crying that Voldemort had returned. He noticed that John was also receiving stares, but they didn't seem to bother him in the same way.

The staring was far less egregious in the Gryffindor common room, but it wasn't completely absent. At least the common room itself was welcoming. Fred and George pinned something to the noticeboard, and Harry bade them and Delilah goodnight as he, John and Neville headed upstairs to their dorm room.

Seamus and Dean were already there, talking about something which they immediately ceased when Harry walked in. It made Harry paranoid that they were talking about him.

"Hey guys, good summer?" Dean asked pleasantly.

"Not bad. What about yours?" Harry asked, trying to avoid the topic of his depressing summer.

"Pretty good. Better than Seamus' at least" he said.

"Why? What happened?" asked Neville.

Seamus didn't meet anyone's eyes immediately, nor did he respond immediately.

"Well... me mam didn't want me coming back" he said quietly.

"What? Why?" asked John.

Seamus looked particularly uncomfortable.

"In a word... you" he said.

"What? You don't mean... she believes everything the prophet's been saying?" asked Harry, aghast.

"Yeah" said Seamus quietly.

Harry stood there, stunned. How far and how effective was the ministry's smear campaign?

"Look... can you just tell me what happened that night with Diggory?" asked Seamus.

Harry felt his blood boiling.

"Ask your mother or read the prophet like she does" Harry spat.

"Don't you dare have a go at my mother!" Seamus snapped angrily.

"Hey, hey, calm down!" John said. "Harry, you don't have to explain that stuff to anyone. But I will" said John firmly.

"Whatever" Harry said, sitting down on his bed.

"What's there to explain? You're just going to parrot what he says" Seamus snarled.

Harry wanted to snap back, but remained silent at the look in John's eyes.

"It's not rubbish" John said calmly. "Think about it Seamus. We came back with the cup and Cedric's corpse. How do _you_ think that he died? Do you honestly think that _we_ killed him?" asked John.

"That's not grounds for You-Know-Who being back!" Seamus yelled indignantly.

"True. But if two people are saying the exact same thing, you'd think that there's a bit of truth there, wouldn't you? And why would we lie about the man who murdered our parents? What would we have to gain by that?" John asked.

"Attention? Fame?" Seamus tried.

"Do we really strike you as that selfish or petty?" John asked.

"Well... not necessarily, but you've always had an ego bigger than the feckin' castle!" Seamus retorted.

John rolled his eyes.

"So manipulating people with the name of my parents' murderer is how I gain attention? Come on Seamus, you can't be that daft" said John.

Seamus began spluttering, searching for words, before Ron bustled in.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"He's havin' a go at me mam!" Seamus accused, pointing a finger at Harry.

"What? Harry wouldn't do that!" said Ron.

"She believed everything the prophet's saying about me and Dumbledore" Harry grumbled.

"Oh... right" said Ron.

"Do you seriously believe the rubbish they're coming out with about You-Know-Who? They're mad!" said Seamus.

"Yeah. I do" said Ron firmly.

"Then you're mad too!" Seamus yelled.

"You're out of order there" said Ron.

"Sure, I'm the one out of order, not the two mad liars!" Seamus argued back.

"Well I'm a prefect, so unless you want detention, you'd better lay off!" Ron threatened.

"Ron, we don't need to pull the prefect card. Seamus, just think about this. You're saying that Harry and I, a pair of guys you've known for four years would lie about the murderer of our parents for fame and attention. When have we ever been that dickish? And how did Cedric die?" John reasoned.

"The claim you're coming up with is pretty mad though" Seamus said, with nowhere near as much conviction as before.

"And we have evidence. Both of us are saying the same thing. I'm not going through every detail, but let's just say that there were death eaters, there was a rejuvenation spell and potion of some sort, not that I understand either of them, and I could describe to you exactly what Voldemort looked like if you asked. And what killed Cedric then?" John pointed out.

"I don't know" Seamus admitted.

"And have we ever been dickish enough to lie like that?" John pressed.

"No" Seamus conceded.

"Then there you have it. The ministry doesn't want people believing that he's back. Why do you think that is?" he asked.

Seamus stayed silent.

"Because it means they have a threat that they haven't had to deal with for years. It's a very serious threat, and take it from me. Fudge isn't up to the task, so he wants to keep power by pretending the threat isn't even there. And here's the other thing. When have the prophet ever been on the ministry's side until now? Why is there any collusion between the prophet and the ministry at all?" asked John.

Seamus remained silent again. Harry did too. John was sounding like an intellectual, not a teenager.

"John? Are you feeling okay?" Dean asked, smirking.

"What can I say? When stuff interests me, I look into it heavily. You won't see me acting like this over school work though" John replied, smirking back.

"I'd have been pretty terrified if you did" Dean replied.

"Well whatever the case, my gran and I think the prophet's gone down a rabbit hole of rubbish! We believe you Harry" said Neville, making Harry particularly grateful.

"Okay... maybe you have something" Seamus finally said.

"That's about as much as I can ask for. Just... pay attention to the prophet and how contrived they get, alright? Keep an eye on that Umbridge woman too" John asked.

"Fine" said Seamus shortly.

Harry, not for the first time found himself conflicted. He was grateful that people would seemingly be on his side no matter what, but at the same time, hearing attacks from someone like Seamus, someone whom he'd gotten along with very well until then, was quite jarring. He didn't know how many more such accusations he'd be facing from then on, and he sincerely hoped that the rumours of him being mad would instead just make people leave him alone at the very least.

Whilst John's points seemed to get through to Seamus, he still wasn't quite the same around Harry. He dressed himself incredibly quickly the next morning, leaving before Harry had even found his Gryffindor tie.

"Does he think he'll turn into a nutter if he's around me for too long?" Harry asked loudly, hoping Seamus would hear.

"Don't worry about it Harry, he's just..." Dean trailed off. Clearly Dean was having a hard time coming up with adequate apologia for his best friend.

Hermione and Delilah seemed to have had the same issue in their dorm too.

"What, you and Lavender having a nice chat about whether or not I'm a lying madman?" Harry asked angrily.

"Actually we told her that you're not lying and that she should keep her mouth shut when it comes to matters she knows nothing about" Delilah said coolly.

"You may not have noticed Harry, but we're on your side. We'd appreciate you not jumping down our throats" said Hermione, with narrowed eyes.

"Sorry" Harry said quietly.

"It's alright. But don't you remember what Dumbledore said at the end of the year feast when we were last here?" Hermione asked.

Harry and Ron looked quizzically at each other.

"You're going to tell us" said John wryly.

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"He reminded us to hold on to our bonds of friendship! He's not even been back for two months and already, people are at each others' throats!" Hermione said insistently.

"How you keep remembering this stuff I'll never know" said Ron.

"I do listen, Ron" said Hermione playfully.

"So do us mere mortals, but that memory of yours is just ridiculous" John quipped.

Hermione shrugged.

"The sorting hat said the same thing too. We need to stand united and all that" said Delilah, as they started moving towards the great hall.

"I'm not about to go all buddy buddy with Malfoy if that's what the hat's on about" said Ron.

"No, I wouldn't expect it. But it can't hurt to at least try to make some new friends, could it?" Hermione pointed out.

Nearby, a group of Ravenclaw fourth year girls huddled together started whispering vigorously as Harry passed them.

"Yeah. People like that would make great friends" said Harry loudly. A few of them blushed sheepishly.

"They won't if you antagonize them" Delilah said sternly.

"Aren't they antagonizing me? Whispering like I'm a nutter when I pass them?" Harry grumbled.

"Yes, but it's always a two-way street" said Delilah.

"Whatever" said Harry.

"He was like that literally all summer. Be thankful you didn't have to deal with it in July" said John, rolling his eyes.

Harry said nothing, knowing John was right. He wasn't exactly easy to get along with these days, he knew that, but at this stage, he couldn't help it. There was so much going on that just made his blood boil, made him want to punch something, yell at people, and to ignore others, almost like a petulant child.

He'd been wondering for months how John remained so upbeat, but had now started to give up on trying to understand. He chalked it up to John just being a drastically different person and left it at that.

However, there was a bright spot when Angelina Johnson walked up to him with purpose.

"Hi Harry, John, good summer?" she asked breathlessly. She looked as if she'd been searching for them all morning, and didn't wait for a response.

"Listen, I'm the new Quidditch captain" she said.

"Nice, I thought it'd be you" said Harry, genuinely smiling for the first time since yesterday afternoon.

"Yeah, well we need a new keeper since Oliver's left. Tryouts are at Friday at five, and I want to see how the team gels, alright?" she asked.

"Sounds good" said John.

Angelina smiled and left, presumably to look for other Quidditch players in Gryffindor.

"Shit... I need to organise trials for the rugby team, don't I?" asked John.

"Better do it quickly" said Ron. "First match is in November"

"I know... and we need to train, learn how to lift and work out calls... maybe I shouldn't be captain after all" said John, laughing.

"You'll be fine" Ron said, waving it off.

"I know. By the way, you should try out on Friday" said John.

"Yeah, why not?" Harry asked, brightening up further.

"I'd planned on it. Hope I'm good enough" said Ron,

"You will be" Hermione said firmly and immediately, almost automatically.

She wasn't alone in her confidence though, the others agreed and hoped that he would indeed, try out for the team. Later though, Harry was surprised to see Hermione still receiving the Daily Prophet.

"You're still getting that? I'm not bothering. Bunch of rubbish" he grunted.

"Harry, why do spies exist?" Delilah asked sarcastically.

"To... get information from the enemy" Harry replied sheepishly.

Delilah looked at Harry expectantly.

"Okay, I get it" said Harry, while Hermione disappeared behind her newspaper.

"Nothing at all about you or Dumbledore" Hermione said disappointedly once she'd finished reading.

"Probably better than reading our bloody timetables" said Ron.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

"Look at mine and Harry's" Ron grumbled.

Indeed, Ron and Harry had Umbridge, Binns, Snape and Trelawney in the same day. The others at least didn't have Trelawney to add to the misery that was that first Monday.

"Ouch" came Fred's voice from behind Ron. He too was looking at his timetable.

"And it's O.W.L year for you lot" George added ominously.

"I get that they're important, but what's so bad about it?" John asked.

"You don't know... people get pretty stressed out in your year. It'll be bad. A few panic attacks in our year, some counselling was needed... a good time was not had by all, that's for sure" Fred explained.

"We'll be fine" said John, waving it off.

"With that complacency, you won't be" Hermione warned.

"No good ever came from panicking about it. Besides, it's not like we're a bunch of dunces" John pointed out.

"You say that as if you could be included as not a dunce" Delilah said teasingly. Fred and George laughed.

"I'm sorry, but who's the best in the year at Transfiguration? Who has a rather... animalistic secret?" John pointed out smugly.

Delilah rolled her eyes.

"And who has the biggest ego this side of Draco Malfoy?" she shot back.

"The idiot in the year above, McLaggen I think?" John replied quickly.

"You've still got some learning to do Delilah" Harry said, nudging her.

"I'll get there some day" Delilah insisted.

"Anyway, we'd better head off. We might be able to sell a couple of extendable ears before Herbology" said George.

"Right. Be seeing you" said Fred, before the pair headed off.

"You think it's true? About how bad this year might get?" asked Harry.

"It must be. I mean O. affect jobs you can apply for, the N.E. you can take, and we get careers advice this year too. Bill was telling me" said Ron.

"I've just realised, this is the first time we've talked about this, but what are you planning on doing after Hogwarts?" asked Delilah, as they headed towards History of Magic.

"Not sure... it'd be really cool to be an auror though" Ron said wistfully. "But they're the elite. You've got to be bloody amazing"

"Yeah. But it'd be worth working for, wouldn't it?" Harry asked.

"Definitely. You?" Ron asked Hermione.

"I'm not sure yet. I want to do something truly worthwhile" she said.

"Being an auror is pretty worthwhile Hermione" Harry said, staring at her.

"I know, but it's not the only thing in the world to do. Maybe if I take S.P.E.W further..." she trailed off.

"Delilah?" Harry asked quickly, hoping Hermione didn't go on a tirade.

"I definitely want to get into wizarding medical work. That way I know that I'm always helping someone" she said firmly.

"Nice. John?" Ron asked.

"No idea. I probably could make auror, but the thing is... what I really want to do is make some massive change to the world. Something big that people will remember, you know?" John said.

"Like what?" Hermione asked.

"Well I haven't thought about it as much as I should have... but d'you guys think the wizarding world could learn a lot from muggle culture?" John asked.

"Yes" Hermione said instantly.

Ron looked to her curiously.

"What do muggles do better?" he asked.

"Health and safety, anti-discrimination, organized government, international relations... honestly most things at an organisational level. Plus if the muggle world went to war with the wizarding world, wizards wouldn't stand a chance" Hermione said knowledgeably.

"Wow... the way dad talks about them, it's like they're the ones who need protection" said Ron.

"Because of the statue of secrecy. But if the cat is let out of the bag, that wouldn't be true at all" Hermione said.

"Honestly I think the statue of secrecy is a bunch of rubbish. Maybe that's what I could work towards" John wondered.

"Abolishing it? Are you mental?" Harry asked, inwardly noting how Ron's speech patterns were rubbing off on him.

"Yeah. Why not?" John asked.

"This is a rather deep discussion, we should talk about it later" said Delilah, pointing out the fact that they were already at Binns' door.

His lessons as usual, were droning, long and boring. How he managed to make giant wars boring was beyond anyone in the classroom. Snape's lesson, for better or for worse, was far more memorable.

"I find it appropriate to remind everyone in this classroom that in May and June, you will be undertaking your O. . I expect each and every one of you to at least scrape an 'Acceptable' or you will suffer my... displeasure" said Snape, his glowering gaze lingering on Neville for longer than it should have.

"And I will only accept the very best among your number into my N.E.W.T class. Some of us will be saying goodbye permanently" said Snape. He now fixed his gaze on John, then Harry.

Snape was as unfair as ever, giving Harry a zero for making a mistake (and vanishing his potion), and giving John detention for pointing out that Goyle's potion was far worse.

"Yep. Still a twat" said Ron.

Hermione looked uncomfortable at Ron's bluntness, but didn't argue.

Divination didn't help Harry's worsening mood at all, and by the time he and Ron met up with Hermione, Delilah and John, he was in as foul a mood as he had been in all summer.

Everyone was quiet as they entered what was now Umbridge's defence against the dark arts classroom. She was sat at her desk, in a ridiculously pink, fluffy cardigan, smiling sweetly at the class as they entered.

"Something about the way she's smiling is _not_ right" Ron muttered to John.

"You're telling _me_ " John whispered back as they sat together at the back of the class. John gave Susan a smile as he passed her, one which she returned.

"Good afternoon class" said Umbridge in a soft, sickly-sweet voice. It was extremely condescending to say the least.

No one replied in the manner which she wanted apparently.

"That wasn't good enough. Let's try again. Good afternoon class" she said, very pointedly.

"Good afternoon Professor Umbridge" the class replied in unison.

"That's better. See? It isn't difficult" she said.

John raised an eyebrow and shared a confused look with Ron. They were both obviously wondering when the class had regressed into children.

Umbridge droned on in a manner similar to Binns when she started teaching, but for more than five minutes, she ignored Hermione, who unlike the rest of the class who were trying to pay attention (and failing), had her hand up.

"Yes?" Umbridge said finally. "You have a query about the material?" she asked.

"No Professor. I wanted to know something about your course aims" Hermione replied, motioning towards the blackboard.

"I thought they were rather self-explanatory" Umbridge said shortly.

"Well there's just one problem I think. There isn't any mention on using defensive spells" said Hermione.

"I can't think of a reason to use defensive spells here. You surely can't be expecting to be attacked in class?" Umbridge asked rhetorically.

"We're not using magic here?" Ron exclaimed in surprise.

"Students raise their hands in my class if they wish to speak" said Umbridge firmly.

Ron raise his hand, but Umbridge ignored it and turned back to Hermione.

"What is your name?" she asked.

"Hermione Granger" Hermione responded flatly.

"And what are you trying to ask?" Umbridge asked.

"Surely the whole point of this class is learning how to use defensive magic?" Hermione challenged.

"Are you a ministry-trained educational expert Miss Granger?" Umbridge asked, still using that obviously false sweet voice.

"No" said Hermione.

"Well then, you are not qualified to judge the 'point' of my class" said Umbridge with finality.

John scoffed loudly and Umbridge turned to him.

"Is something amusing to you?" she asked.

"Well... weren't you the senior undersecretary to the minister?" John asked.

"Yes... why do you ask?" Umbridge asked, examining John intently. She hadn't forgotten her encounter with him in the courtroom, short as it was.

"What's your education qualification exactly? I must have missed it" John asked. Ron was trying not to burst out laughing. Hermione looked very pleased with John's line of questioning.

"Minister Fudge appointed me. That is enough" said Umbridge firmly.

"Okay, now _that_ is funny" said John, smirking unabashedly at Umbridge.

The class stared at John in shock and silence. No one expected that.

"We will discuss your... sense of humour later Mr. Potter, make no mistake" said Umbridge. "Now, as I was saying, you will be learning defensive magical theory in a risk-free environment"

"What's the point of that?" Harry asked.

"Hand Potter!" Umbridge said triumphantly.

Harry raised his hand, and Umridge again ignored it. However, she now had many more students with raised hands.

"And your name?" she asked Dean.

"Dean Thomas. It's like Harry was saying. If we're going to be attacked, it's not risk free" said Dean.

"You will not be attacked in this class. I must say, your previous teaching in this subject has been inconsistent and highly distasteful. Not to mention dangerous half-breeds teaching you" said Umbridge, wrinkling her nose.

"Remus Lupin was the best teacher we've ever had" Dean piped up angrily.

"Hand Mr. Thomas! As I was saying, you've been told that the risk of attacks is high. This is not true. Theoretical knowledge will be enough to cast the spells in your practical tests, and no more is required" said Umbridge.

"That's not going to prepare us for the real world" Harry said, his fist in the air.

"This is school. Not the real world" said Umbridge.

"Oh! My life is a lie! School isn't part of the real world! We're in some imaginary fantasy-land!" John said, pretending to be shocked. The class, in spite of Umbridge's obvious authoritarian streak roared with laughter.

"Theory isn't going to prepare us for what's out there" Harry said firmly, his hand still in the air.

"And pray, tell me... what is out there?" Umbridge asked.

"Lord Voldemort" Harry said, glaring at Umbridge.

The class fell silent again.

"Let me make this quite plain. The notion that a certain dark wizard has returned... is. A. Lie" said Umbridge.

"So us seeing him? Fighting him? _Cedric Diggory dying?_ What do you propose that was all about?" John asked, his hand in the air.

"Delusions, lies and a tragedy" Umbridge said, now with a rising temper.

"I can describe every detail of what his face looked like. Harry would tell you the exact same thing. We're talking about the murderer of my parents here. If you want to bury your head in the sand like some fucking coward like the rest of the ministry, be my guest. But don't spread your propogandising bullshit in schools" John said, now standing up. Once again, the class stared at him in shock.

Harry stood up too.

"If you keep up with this, you're going to get people killed. I'm not sugar-coating this"

"Both of you, come here" said Umbridge, writing something down.

Harry and John did so.

"You will take these to Professor McGonagall" she said.

McGonagall was not pleased, but surprisingly, not angry. Instead, she explained the situation to them.

"This is not about truth and lies. You must be careful around Dolores Umbridge. Her appointment as a professor is just the start, I assure you. Living to fight another day, whatever form that may take is a lesson I thought you had both learned by now" she said firmly.

"Yeah... I suppose so" said Harry.

Both Harry and John had received a week's worth of detentions, including that Friday, which made their stomachs lurch. They would miss Ron's Quidditch trial.

"Wonderful start to the year"


	9. Umbridge's Second Play

**The functionality of the blood quill will be changed here, but not drastically. I just prefer a more biologically accurate way for this magic to work. Call me a stickler for science if you will.**

"Now, like your brother before you, you'll be doing lines for me today Mr. Potter", said Umbridge. "Oh, and before you ask, no your detention will not be re-scheduled. You brother has already tried"

John inwardly cursed. However, the punishment at least seemed light. Sighing, he opened his bag and reached for his quill.

"You won't be needing your quills Mr. Potter. You'll be using a special one of mine" she said, smiling sweetly at him. John looked at the table and saw a long, thin black quill, and looked to Umbridge, who looked back at him expectantly. John shrugged and picked the quill up. It was warm. Far warmer than any normal quill.

John pulled parchment towards himself and realised that he had no ink.

"I don't have ink here professor" said John in a monotone voice.

"This quill requires none. Special, isn't it?" Umbridge replied excitedly. She looked completely ridiculous behaving like that.

"If you say so" said John. "What do I write and how many times?"

"Authority is to be respected. You will write it until... the message sinks in properly. Understood?" Umbridge said.

Authority is to be respected... that went against everything John believed in.

"We seem to have very different outlooks professor" said John, looking up at her defiantly.

"Oh? Do enlighten me then Mr. Potter" Umbridge said, her voice now sounding slightly less sweet. There was a hint of something more sinister in her voice now.

"I don't think authority commands respect. Respect is earned. As for authority itself? It should be questioned by anyone with half a brain" said John firmly.

"That is not the view of the ministry or the minister. Your views are irrelevant" said Umbridge dismissively.

"Really? Not very democratic of the ministry, don't you think? Isn't the ministry supposed to serve and represent _us_?" John asked, not being able to stop the smirk from spreading across his face.

"You are not here to debate political philosophy with me Mr. Potter. You are in a detention" said Umbridge, trying to remain calm. Her flushing face told John that he had already won the battle of ideas.

"As you wish mein furher" said John. It seemed that Umbridge, unlike Fudge, had no idea what that meant. That made it particularly funny to John, but he didn't laugh out loud and instead took the quill to the parchment and began to write, whilst Umbridge sat at her desk, apparently writing something of her own.

A sharp pain pricked his left hand, and instinctively, John dragged it towards himself and looked at it. Nothing. Frowning, John got back to writing again. Each time he wrote a new word, he would feel that same sharp pain, and yet nothing would appear on his hand. Was he going mad? What was happening?

It wasn't until he had written 'Authority is to be respected' ten times, that something visible had happened.

Looking down at his hand again, John saw that his left hand was now extremely red, as if he had dragged it through a bush of stinging nettles. In the centre though, his skin was white and had apparently been cut. John pieced together the puzzle and realized with shock that the red ink on the parchment was not ink. The quill was using John's blood.

"Son of a bitch..." John muttered quietly enough for Umbridge not to hear him word for word.

"Yes?" Umbridge said, looking up from her work.

"This quill isn't writing in ink, is it?" John asked, remaining surprisingly calm.

"It is actually. Granted, the ink isn't the type you are used to using" she said, the same sickly-sweet smile appearing on her face.

"Well if this is what you've got planned for detention, then I'm not showing up" said John, standing up and grabbing his bag.

"Yes you are. Have you not learned anything from your lines?" Umbridge asked in an infuriatingly patronizing voice.

"I've learned that I'm right. What are you going to do to stop me?" asked John.

"Remind you that I am your professor" said Umbridge. Clearly she didn't know John very well, even by reputation.

"How about now?" John asked, concentrating hard, quickly taking the form of the colossal kodiak bear and rearing up onto his hind legs. Umbridge shrank back into her seat and looked up at the bear, absolutely shocked. John promptly transformed back.

"If I find out that you've been doing this to Harry, you're not going to get this kind of mercy from me" he said. Umbridge managed to recover from the shock of John's transformation and gave him a challenging glare.

"We shall see" said Umbridge. It seemed that a mutual understanding had been reached. John couldn't eject Umbridge from her job. But he would absolutely tell McGonagall. And she certainly couldn't stop him from doing anything.

It didn't take John long to find Harry. He and Ron were doing divination homework in the common room.

"Harry, did Umbridge give you lines for detention before me?" he asked. Harry looked rather guilty. John realized that Harry thought that he, John was upset over not being warned. But John understood why Harry had told no-one.

"Y-yes" he said.

"Okay, good. A word?" John asked.

Harry quickly walked towards John, who led Harry into a more quiet corner of the room. Without a word, John yanked Harry's hand from his pocket, before thrusting his own injured hand in front of Harry's.

Harry's was slightly worse. He had obviously written 'I must not tell lies' more times than John had written his own punishment.

"Fucking wonderful. I'm going to McGonagall" said John.

"No! Don't! We can't let Umbridge know that she can get to us!" said Harry.

"This isn't about some moral high-ground victory you idiot. She physically can't have the moral high ground. I'm taking her down. I'm not going to any of her detentions and she can't stop me" said John firmly.

"What? How?" asked Harry.

"When I figured out what that fucking quill did, I transformed. She's not about to take on a six hundred kilo kodiak bear, is she?" John asked simply.

"Well... no..." said Harry.

"Glad you agree. Come on. Hey Ron, we'll be back in a bit. Just going to tell McGonagall that Umbridge is doing _this_ to us in detention" said John, showing Ron the back of his left hand.

"What? Harry, I thought you said she was giving you lines!" said Ron, paling significantly.

"We'll talk about it when we get back. Tell the girls by the way if you see them" said John.

"Fucking right I will" Ron muttered.

McGonagall was if possible, paler than Ron when John told her what Umbridge was doing. But she was angry. Furious in fact.

"Well we will just see about that. Blood quills... in all my years teaching at Hogwarts..." she seethed.

"So... what do we do?" asked John.

"You will do nothing" McGonagall said sternly. "This is no longer in your hands. I will confront my _esteemed colleague_ myself"

McGonagall was far angrier than either Harry or John had ever seen her. Hermione was worse.

"She's evil! A vile, monstrous, vindictive-" Hermione ranted.

"We need to think of a way to heal those first. At least you're not going to any of her detentions though" said Delilah.

"I can heal those myself. I'll just get some murtlap tentacles and make you some bowls of murtlap essence" said Hermione, still breathing heavily and angrily.

"Bright side is that we're at least able to show up to the trials" said John.

"Always a bright side" said Ron, trying to be upbeat in the face of a teacher willing to torture her students.

* * *

Homework seemed to be piling on, and each new assignment seemed to have a compounding effect on the workload. John kept ahead in transfiguration, but that was all he managed. Snape was nastier than ever, Umbridge was no less forgiving than her earliest outings, in spite of John's blatant lack of respect for her 'authority'. McGonagall had confronted her, and it had somehow made her even worse. Thankfully, she was no longer capable of giving detentions, given that it was now wide knowledge, what she did to Harry and John.

However, she raised the point that she was the only option of defence against the dark arts teacher, meaning she could not be dismissed, also invoking the ministry to protect her position. Her authoritarian streak was just as firm as ever in lessons, and she was somehow confident about her position. The fact that she was confident in spite of McGonagall's confrontation did not sit well with anyone.

Spending so much time on homework made them all more irritable than usual, and Hermione had taken it so seriously that the stress had already given her a headache. It was only the end of the first week.

"Yeah. Fred and George were right about this bloody year. If that was just the first week..." said Ron, putting away his essay about Jupiter's moons for Professor Sinistra, and poking Hermione out of almost falling asleep on the spot.

"Ughh... my head" she moaned.

The only good news was that Ron had managed to make it onto the Gryffindor Quidditch team. He almost didn't, feeling rather nervous the morning before the trial, but whatever Hermione had done to him during the five minutes they weren't seen for had apparently worked.

That news seemed to have spread fast too, for Malfoy, Pansy Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle and a few other Slytherins made appearances at Gryffindor's first practice. The moment the team kicked off from the ground, they began a chant about Gryffindor being losers. Ron dropped the first pass he received, among a few others, and it caused the chants to grow louder.

"Alright... now's as good a time as any I suppose" John sighed to Harry. Angelina looked confused, but John flew down to the stands, landing right beside the Slytherins.

"I can't stop you idiots from being here. But I can discourage you" said John.

"Yeah? How so Potter?" Malfoy spat at him.

John smirked, and transformed into his animagus form instantly, before rearing up on his hind legs to tower over them, finally letting out a bellowing roar.

All of the Slytherins blanched or screamed in terror on the spot.

"Th-that's illegal P-Potter!" Malfoy stuttered.

John transformed back.

"Oh, you think so? Check the registered animagus list if you must Malfoy, but I think it's totally legal" said John innocently.

"What the fuck..." Malfoy whispered.

The members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team aside from Harry and Ron, who were laughing loudly, looked on in shock, not expecting that in the least.

"John! When did you learn how to do that?" Fred called.

"Last year. Just didn't feel the need to use it in front of you until now!" John called back as the Slytherins backed off slowly, as if John was an actual bear.

"You should know that backing away slowly from brown bears isn't a good idea by the way. Best thing to do is to not show up in their territory in the first place" John added, turning to the Slytherins again.

They scurried away, even though John taunted them further, yelling that running from a bear was the worst thing they could have done. It certainly brightened up Ron's mood, as he was playing far better than before, almost never dropping passes or missing saves.

It certainly made their attempts at doing homework far more bearable later that night with Ron's good mood seemingly infecting Hermione too. It was the first time that year they'd been able to talk to each other light-heartedly whilst working, and somehow, Ron and Hermione's flirtatious, teasing behaviour was not grating on Harry's nerves, and he simply let them enjoy it.

It wasn't to last however.

A small, handsome screech owl was flapping its wings, trying to get through the window.

"Uhh... Ron... isn't that Percy's owl?" Delilah asked.

"What the... it is!" said Ron, standing up and opening the window.

Percy's owl, Hermes was carrying a letter addressed to Ron, and Hermes sat upon the table. Ron opened it up and immediately noticed that the letter was an extremely long one, before he started reading it aloud.

 _Dear Ronald,_

 _I have recently been informed, by no less than the Minister for Magic himself, by way of your new defence against the dark arts professor, that you have been appointed as one of Gryffindor's new prefects._

 _I was pleasantly surprised to say the least and must extend my congratulations. I had my reservations regarding your path, expecting you to follow Fred and George's example, rather than my own. It filled me with relief to hear you no longer flouting authority and shouldering some true responsibility. I would like to offer more than congratulations however. I wish to send some advice, hence why I am sending this privately at night. I would prefer this letter to stay away from prying eyes._

John scoffed, knowing that the ministry possessed more prying eyes than anyone.

 _I have gathered from the Minister that you are still seeing a lot of the Potter boys. Nothing could put you in more danger of losing that badge than fraternisation with them, especially Harry Potter._

It was Hermione's turn to scoff. If anyone was an anti-prefect, it was John.

 _You may have heard that they are favoured by Dumbledore, but based upon what I have heard, he will not be in charge at Howgarts for much longer. Those who will replace him likely have a more accurate view of them. Read the daily prophet tomorrow morning and you will see which way the wind is blowing._

"That's telling" said John immediately.

"How?" Hermione asked.

"Percy's as good as admitted that the Ministry is colluding with the prophet. Oh sure, we knew already, but admitting it outright? They're getting cocky" said John. It was certainly food for thought.

 _I am telling you that you cannot afford to be spoken of in the same breath as either of them, it will damage not only your school career, but your professional life as well. If you ask me, the disciplinary trial allowed Harry Potter to get off on a mere technicality. Most of the people I talk to are still convinced of his guilt. Of course, you may be afraid to sever ties, as at the very least, Harry Potter has been known to be unstable, and I daresay, violent._

 _If you have trouble with this matter, I urge you to speak to Dolores Umbridge, a truly delightful woman if I do say so myself._

"Delightful? Sure, if you're comparing her to Voldemort" said John.

 _It is a shame she is encountering very little cooperation, but suffice it to say that it will not be the case for much longer. Again, see the daily prophet tomorrow for further elaboration. For example, I am told that the Potters are ignoring her detentions for them. She will have the power to prevent such disrespect for authority._

"Shit" said John.

 _A friend of Professor Umbridge will be well-placed for head-boyship in two years time! Severing ties and criticising our family has pained me, but the associations, and the misguided beliefs they hold are too hidering to allow a mainstay-place in our lives. I'm sorry I haven't been able to see you more over the summer, but I hope you take this advice well._

 _Your brother,_

 _Percy_

"Well then... if you're worried about me... what was it? Getting violent?" Harry started, trying to pretend it was all a joke to him. "I'll be able to spare you that sort of behaviour at least"

Ron ignored him and began tearing the letter to shreds.

"Who does he think he is?" Ron snarled. "Oh, I'm sorry Ron for never giving a shit about our family after all, I'll just pretend I did! I'll slag off your friends and suck up to a woman who's okay with torturing students! Yeah! Take my advice Ron! What a fucking git" Hermione placed her hand gently on Ron's shoulder.

"I'll look through your essay for you, alright?" she asked gently.

"You don't have to" Ron said half-heartedly, though it was too late - Hermione had already pulled Ron's astronomy essay towards her.

"How am I supposed to pay you back for this?" Ron asked.

"Try not to get bored of me" Hermione said teasingly.

Ron scoffed.

"Easy enough" he said, simply.

"You're stuck with her it seems" said John, elbowing Ron lightly.

"I think I can handle that" said Ron, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

* * *

As Percy said, the daily prophet contained news about Umbridge. Apart from insisting that she had been a success as a teacher, it brought the grave news that she had been appointed as Hogwarts' first 'High Inquisitor'. It gave her the power to dismiss teachers and students alike who she thought were worth dismissing.

It was certainly enough for Harry and John to stop ignoring their detentions, but worse still was her ability to dismiss teachers. When Hagrid came back, there was almost no doubt at all that he would be on the chopping block for Umbridge. He was still away thankfully.

"Shit... Hermione, read this" said John, pointing towards the bottom left corner.

"Wizengamot elders Griselda Marchbanks and Tiberius Ogden have resigned in protest to this appointment" Hermione read aloud. "For a full account of Marchbanks' alleged links to subversive goblin groups, turn to page seventeen... more smear pieces, even though they wrote down Marchbanks saying that they're trying to discredit Dumbledore!" Hermione said, outraged.

"Yeah. They're deflecting attention" said Delilah immediately. "Not only that, but it's all about distraction from ideas and actual policy. They're trying to force readers to focus on people and witch-hunting"

"Divide and conquer" said Hermione.

"People can't seriously be that thick!" Ron muttered. However, looking around and seeing the level of discussion among students reading the daily prophet, he grimaced.

"Bloody hell, they really are" he said.

However, John found himself grinning.

"I really hope she inspects McGonagall while we're in her classroom. McGonagall will shit all over everything Umbridge tries to do" said John.

"Crude... but I think you're right" said Delilah.

"Well we need to get to our lessons now. If Umbridge is inspecting them, we can't be late" said Hermione, standing up.

She wasn't inspecting their history of magic lesson, nor was she inspecting potions, which was just as well, as Snape was rather displeased with their homework.

"The overall standard was abysmal. I have graded them as if you were handing them in during your examinations this year. It should give you an indication of what you may achieve. I sincerely hope for your sakes that improvements are made. Promptly" said Snape.

Harry felt his face grow hot as he saw a big, black 'D' on his essay. He hastily shoved it into his bag to avoid Hermione seeing it.

"I may end up handing out detentions to those who score 'D' marks" said Snape.

"People actually got D's?" Malfoy said, laughing.

"Yes Mr. Malfoy. More than you might imagine" said Snape. Malfoy laughed louder, and Harry felt worse. Somehow, John had managed an 'A', and Ron got a 'P', both of which were better than his.

Hermione got an 'E', which was surprisingly, only the second highest grade, and Delilah got an O, the highest.

"Nothing wrong with a P Ron" said Fred bracingly at lunch that day.

"Doesn't it stand for poor?" Ron asked.

"Yeah. There's O for outstanding, there's E for exceeds expectations... mind you, Fred and I should've got Es in everything because we exceeded all expectations by showing up" said George. Everyone laughed aside from Hermione, who continued the train of grade explanations.

"Then there's A for acceptable, P for poor and D for dreadful" she finished. Harry felt himself blushing. Delilah noticed and gave him a sympathetic look. Given her O in her own potions essay, he didn't feel comforted.

"There's a lower grade still" said Fred.

"Lower than D?" Hermione asked in shock.

"Yep. T" said George.

"Which means... what?" Ron asked.

"Troll" said Fred, smirking.

That at least made Harry feel better, although he had a sudden image of himself trying to hide from Hermione that he got nothing but trolls in his final exams.

"So have you had an inspected lesson yet?" George asked.

"No. What are they like?" Delilah asked.

"You know... they really aren't that bad" said George, musingly. "She just sits in the corner with a clipboard and a quill, making notes. You know Flitwick, he just treated her as a guest. She asked Alicia a couple of questions about how she feels about the lessons, and she said they're good, which is true"

"I reckon some other teachers like Trelawney will have a harder time of it though" said Fred.

"Oh she'll get destroyed" said Ron immediately.

Ron's prediction about Trelawney seemed to be more accurate than almost anything Trelawney had ever said. Umbridge did inspect her lesson, and it didn't look good for her.

Harry almost pitied Trelawney. Until she set them enough homework to actually swim in. And somehow interpreted dreams about porridge eating and shoe buying to foretell a gruesome, violent death.

"You think she'll ever get bored of that?" Ron asked dryly.

"Not sure. I swear she gets close to crying every time I enter her damn classroom" said Harry, sniggering.

"Let's try not to cry in Umbridge's lesson now then. And keep our tempers" said Ron warningly.

"Easier said than done mate. Watch how she starts praising Quirrel or some shit" said Harry gloomily.


	10. Underground Resistance

Harry was completely correct about Umbridge praising Quirrel. It had irked him enough to land him with yet more detentions, another loud confrontation with a furious Angelina, and a further five points taken by McGonagall, as 'detentions seem to have no effect on you'. John insisted that she was doing it for Harry's own good.

How John was keeping his temper was beyond him.

"I'm not going to waste time convincing Umbridge. She's past the point of no return, isn't she?" said John. "We need to convince other students. That's where stuff actually starts. Young people, not old, vindictive toads" said John.

"Old... vindictive... toads, Mr. Potter?" Came the low pitched, snarling voice of Severus Snape.

John turned around and to Harry's shock, he smiled at Snape.

"Not you I'm afraid Professor. I'm on about Professor Umbridge" said John brazenly.

Snape's expression was unreadable, but what he said nearly made Harry and Ron faint.

"As you were Potter" he said, before walking towards the dungeons.

"What the hell..." Harry choked out.

"Snape's not exactly going to be a fan of Umbridge is he? How much does he like being questioned? Umbridge's literal job is to question him" said John simply.

Ron laughed, and almost laughed again when he saw Umbridge sitting in the corner of McGonagall's classroom when they had their transfiguration lesson. When McGonagall walked into the classroom, she paid Umbridge no attention and simply began a lecture on the differences between vanishing vertebrates and invertebrates.

"Hem hem" Umbridge was doing the exact same attention-seeking cough that she used to interrupt Dumbledore. McGonagall ignored it the first time, but not the second.

"Yes?" she asked tiredly.

"I take it you received my message that I am inspecting your lesson?" Umbridge asked.

"Obviously, or I would have asked you what you were doing in my classroom when I entered" said McGonagall. Some of the students began grinning as McGonagall started teaching again.

"Hem hem" Umbridge tried again.

"I wonder... how you expect to learn about my _teaching_ if you continually _interrupt_ my _teaching_ " McGonagall said sternly. John let out a bark of laughter, and he could have sworn he saw McGonagall's lip twitching slightly.

Harry himself was far less angry with Professor McGonagall than he was earlier that day. His anger at Umbridge however, was worsening by the day. He and John had detentions at seven and eight that evening, and their hands, which had started to properly heal, had been cut open again. They were now bleeding. The skin was tender, red, and rubbed raw on both of their left hands. Hermione and Delilah had prepared soothing murtlap essence bowls

"She's just a monster. An authoritarian monster" said Delilah.

"And with Voldemort out there, we're not learning shit" said Harry gloomily.

"We have to do something about her. I suggested poison" Ron quipped.

"More importantly, we need to do something about learning defence in these times" said Hermione.

"What would that be exactly? At best we could head to the library and look up jinxes and stuff like Harry did last year. Not too much use against trained adult dark wizards" said John.

"You're right, the library can only take us so far. We need some kind of practical experience" said Delilah.

"We need to learn ourselves, but we need a teach-" Hermione stopped mid-speech and began staring at Harry and John, sat at a table with their left hands submerged in murtlap essence as if they held the answer to the meaning of life itself.

"What?" Harry asked.

"You two!" Hermione said triumphantly.

John looked at Harry quizzically.

"She's doing that thing again where she's thinking six hundred steps ahead of us" said John. Ron smirked, but Delilah rolled her eyes.

"She's saying... that _you two_ should teach us!" said Delilah.

"Come off it..." said Harry, grinning, sure that they were joking.

"Why not? You two are the best in the year at defence!" said Hermione.

"Aren't you?" John asked, now getting confused.

"No actually. Remus was the only teacher who really taught us right, and your scores decimated even hers" said Delilah.

"What about the actual stuff you've done? Saving the stone?" asked Ron.

"That was luck, I-" Harry started.

"Fighting off all those dementors?" Delilah asked.

"That was a fluke, we-" Harry tried.

"Fighting off you-know-who in the flesh?" Hermione asked, almost shouting her words.

"Listen! Most of it wasn't really luck! I just did what I could, I didn't have time to think! I didn't get through because I'm brilliant at defence against the dark arts! It wasn't like Diggory was stupid and I was clever! It could have easily been me!" Harry yelled.

"We weren't saying-" Delilah started.

"Yeah, well that's what it sounded like" Harry interrupted.

"You know what? If this twat's going to pussy out of it, I'll do it myself. I'll also teach everyone how to fight hand-to-hand" said John, standing up and clearly speaking as bluntly as possible to annoy Harry into submission. Harry didn't let it work.

* * *

In fact, no one mentioned it again for another two weeks. Clearly they preferred the idea of both brothers teaching. Hermione however, mentioned it extremely bluntly when they were working on looking up potion ingredients.

"Have you given any thought about teaching?" she asked brazenly.

Harry didn't answer immediately, pretending to be interested in Asiatic anti-venoms for a few seconds first. He didn't want to speak his mind but saw no other option.

"Yeah. I have" said Harry.

"I'm still totally up for it" said John firmly.

"I dunno really. You remember what I was saying about being lucky?" Harry asked.

"Yes, and it doesn't matter. You can't say that you're bad at the subject. If you won't, we know John will just do it on his own" Delilah explained.

"So just you three?" Harry asked.

"Well... don't fly off the handle again Harry, but you ought to teach anyone who wants to learn. Everyone should know how to defend themselves even outside periods of crisis, let alone when V- Voldemort is back" said Hermione.

If anything convinced Harry, the fact that Hermione used Voldemort's name for the first time made him more agreeable to the idea than anything. Ron winced at it but didn't protest as he usually did.

"It's a name you're going to be hearing a lot more of these days Ron. You'll have to learn how to say it. If you can't say his name, what hope do you have of taking him on?" Delilah asked.

"Sorry, but I was raised with that whole 'you shouldn't say his name' thing in my head" said Ron, shrugging.

"You'll get into it eventually. Anyway, we don't know what death eaters do in a fight, so it's worth being able to defend yourself any way possible. Especially girls" said John.

"Why us?" Hermione asked, frowning.

"If we're unlucky, they kill us. If _you're_ unlucky... well... they might not kill you. These nutbars have no problem with killing people based on being muggle-born or not. I don't even want to know what their... err... preferences are" said John.

Hermione and Delilah both shivered uncomfortably, but nodded.

"But aren't there female death eaters too?" Delilah asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure there are, but most of the ones we saw were men. We're just going off what we've seen" said Harry.

"Sounds to me" Ron started. "Like we'll need to think of something different when we're teaching girls. Not with spells and stuff, but probably with hand-to-hand stuff"

"Yeah. I'll have to think about that myself though. Less muscle is weird to work with, especially since I'm not a girl myself" said John.

* * *

John had worked out who would make up the Gryffindor rugby team very quickly, and while the forward pack wasn't as big as Slytherin's, they were very mobile. He was certainly pleased with the overall state of his team. He had them running through set plays tied to specific words and callouts in full contact.

It was brutal, but no more brutal than any other match, and he was proud of his selection. Harry and Ron made it, and though he was accused of favouritism initially, Harry's speed and Ron's height still proved worthwhile.

"We need to make sure we don't cross- Oh come on…" said John. Umbridge had walked out onto the field.

"I thought you were inspecting professors?" John asked, walking up to Umbridge aggressively.

"No. I am here to inspect the school. I must say, the rumours of muggle sports being played here had me worried. But I'm sure your team will dissuade my fears. Go on, play as you normally would" said Umbridge, smiling sweetly. John felt his left hand itching quite badly all of a sudden. He knew that sweet smile meant something sinister.

"Alright" said John, gritting his teeth. "Same move everyone, make sure you don't cross like last time"

John watched as his scrum half, Henry Wilson, a small, wiry sixth year picked the ball up and whipped it out to Harry instantly, Ron not crossing his path this time, just as John instructed. Harry was tackled by Dean, and as soon as Harry's shoulder hit the floor, Umbridge started speaking again.

"Oh, no, no no. This will not do" she said.

John rolled his eyes.

"The move worked though. That's exactly what I was planning" said John dryly.

"I am not impugning your team's skill at the sport. I am impugning the sport itself. I am afraid that such a brutish, thuggish, 'game' cannot be allowed to continue if Hogwarts is to be held to ministry standards" said Umbridge.

John's heart dropped.

"No… you can't mean…" he gasped furiously.

"Yes. I will be discontinuing this… rugby from Hogwarts' offerings. Inform your team that they are no longer playing rugby" said Umbridge.

John didn't need to do so. His indignant team all stood behind him, all of them glaring daggers at Umbridge.

"Unbelievable…"

* * *

"And then she just said that we don't get to play rugby any more!" Ron seethed.

Hermione looked and listened to Ron, Harry, and John's complaints calmly but sympathetically. Delilah appeared as furious as the boys were.

"I swear she wants to fuck up everything we love about this school" said Harry.

"Yeah, pretty much. All the more reason to at least get a group together who hate her, even if we're just trying to learn Defence" said John.

"About that… Delilah and I have been scouting around, and we've got about two dozen people who might show up to at least hear what we have to say" said Hermione.

"Where?" asked Ron.

"Well the Hogsmeade weekend is tomorrow" said Delilah.

"You're not suggesting that thirty odd people show up in the three broomsticks and have a circle jerk about how much donkey dick Umbridge sucks?" John asked bluntly with a raised eyebrow.

"Charming. And no, I'm not. I've said that we'll go to the Hog's head. It's a bit dingy, but we probably won't be followed and overheard in there because it's just not as much in the way of a popular establishment, is it?" asked Hermione rhetorically.

"The Hog's head? I swear Hagrid once told us about it… what did he say? You get a bunch of shady people there?" Harry asked.

"Exactly. That's why no one sympathetic to prim and proper Dolores Umbridge would be caught there" said Hermione.

"Rich of _you_ to call someone prim and proper" Ron teased. Hermione's face was indignant at first, but Ron chuckled, pulled her closer to him and kissed the top of her head. She was no longer indignant, but blushing, and Harry pretended to gag.

Hermione was apparently selling the Hog's head short. Dingy was an understatement. It was dark, grey, the tables were dusty, the windows were grimy and starting to go green, and it had the very bizarre, musty smell of goats.

"Lovely" said Delilah, wrinkling her nose. "When are they arriving?" she asked.

"They should be arriving any moment now" said Hermione, looking at her watch.

They arrived mere moments after, and it was clear that two dozen or so was accurate. Lavender Brown, Dean Thomas and Parvati Patil were the first. Ginny, Fred and George also showed up, though that wasn't a surprise. Neither was the arrival of Cho Chang, but that didn't make Harry's face flush any less. He was envious of John's much calmer reaction to Susan's arrival. John at least had the courage to give her a bright smile which she actually returned.

"What do they all want?" Harry hissed to Hermione.

"They just want to hear what you have to say. Don't worry, I'll start things" Hermione hissed back.

However, when she turned to the gathering crowd, she looked rather nervous.

"Er-hi" she said nervously, her tone higher than usual.

John rolled his eyes and poked Hermione and motioned towards her seat. He and Ron stood up.

"So Hermione probably had some kind of speech in mind" said Ron. Murmurs of agreement could be heard in the crowd. "But we need to get to the bottom line as quickly as we can. We'll have loads of time for her to explain things later" Hermione looked at Ron appreciatively. Apparently public speaking was not her strong suit, but she didn't think it would have been Ron's either.

"Sorry if some of you aren't fans of swearing but that's the only apology you're getting. Umbridge is dogshit" said John. Most people laughed.

"And we need some proper defence against the dark arts instruction" Hermione chimed in, feeling far more confident now that the ball was rolling.

"I get it, so you want to form a group so that we can study together and actually pass" said Michael Corner.

"Sort of... but there's more to it than that" said Hermione, looking uncertainly to Ron.

"Harry's telling the truth. You-know... I mean... V-Voldemort. Voldemort is back. Whether we like it or not" said Ron, grimacing upon using the name for the first time in his life. Harry stared at him in shock, as did many others. A lot of people cringed at the use of Voldemort's name.

"You know what? I'll just buy everyone some drinks so we can actually calm down a little. But yeah. Voldemort's back" said John, before asking and paying for twenty seven butterbeers.

"Where's the proof that he's back?" asked a blonde-haired Hufflepuff boy with an upturned nose.

"Well Dumbledore believes it-"Hermione started.

"Dumbledore believes _them_ " he interrupted.

"Who are you?" Ron asked aggressively.

"Zacharias Smith" he said. "And I'm saying that we have a right to know exactly what makes him say he's back"

"That's really not what this is about-"Delilah started.

"It's okay" said Harry, finally speaking. "What makes me say he's back? I saw him. Both John and I did. We fought him too. Dumbledore also told you all at the end of last year. If you didn't believe him then, I'm not bothering to convince you now" he finished firmly.

"All we know" Zacharias started. "Is that Dumbledore said that Cedric Diggory was murdered and that it was Voldemort who did it. If you could tell us how it happened-"

"You want me to describe a murder? Fine" said John, his voice eerily calm. "Cedric wasn't supposed to be there with Harry. Wasn't a part of Voldemort's plan. He ordered Peter Pettigrew to... and I quote 'kill the spare'. That's what Cedric was to him. A spare. No remorse. No hesitation. Pettigrew raised his wand, used the avada kedavra curse and Cedric was instantly dead. Just like that. In an instant, everything Cedric ever was, or would have been was gone. Is that what you want to hear?" John finished.

The reality of John's description shook everyone in the room to the core. Cho in particular looked distraught. Harry hadn't planned on telling anyone about it. John clearly had different ideas.

"Does it make you feel better now? Hearing how a kid who hadn't even finished school was murdered by a maniac and his sycophant just because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time?" John asked looking at Zacharias distastefully. Harry was doing everything in his power not to look at Cho, but he saw that John was explicitly now looking at Susan, having given his last look for that moment at Zacharias. There were tears in Susan's eyes, among other people in the gathering.

Zacharias fell silent and shrank back.

"Now that I've gone and vividly described a fucking murder because you just... _needed_ to hear it" John started. Zacharias turned crimson. "We need to learn defence. For the OWLs and for our lives. Period" he finished.

"We need to work out how often we meet, where we meet and-"Hermione started.

"Can you really produce a patronus?" asked Susan, unable to stop herself.

"Yeah. Both of us" said John, confusedly.

"Corporeal patronuses?" she pressed.

"Yeah... why?" asked John.

"Blimey! I never knew you could do that!" Lee Jordan cried.

"Mum told us not to spread that. Said you two, especially Harry gets too much attention as it is" said Fred, grinning at Harry.

"She's not wrong" Harry said wryly. A few people laughed.

"And did you kill a basilisk with the sword in Dumbledore's office?" asked Terry Boot. "I heard it from a portrait last year"

"No. Actually, that was Ron" said John. Ron's ears burned red as expected.

"Yeah, but All three of us fought it" he said hastily.

"Wow..." said Lavender, as if Ron had instantly become twice as attractive in seconds.

"But Harry and John also saved the Philosopher's stone in our first year" Neville chimed in. That made John laugh - Neville at that point actually tried to stop them.

"Not to mention Harry getting through the triwizard tournament!" said Cho. Harry suddenly felt a lot sweatier than normal late Autumn weather would allow. "Dragons, Acromantula, merpeople..."

"And apparently John is an animagus, but I heard it from Malfoy so..." came Hannah Abbott's voice.

John grinned and transformed before their eyes into the great kodiak bear. The crowd gave a loud 'Whoa!'.

"It all sounds... great when you put it like that but we nearly always had help. I'm not just trying to sound modest" said Harry.

"Yeah, without Hermione, Ron and Delilah we'd have been dead a dozen times over" said John, giving Ron and Harry in particular pointed looks.

"So you're saying you can't really do that stuff?" asked Zacharias.

"That's not what he said at all" Fred snarled.

"Need your ears cleaned out?" asked George, pulling a lethal looking metal instrument out of his pocket.

"Or any parts really. We don't mind where we stick this" said Fred.

"Well what we're asking" Hermione started, looking pointedly at the twins. "Is whether or not you'd be interested in Harry and John teaching you all. How to defend yourselves that is"

There were general murmurs of agreement.

"Good. Now we shouldn't meet any less than once a week, and for at least two hours" said Hermione.

"Hang on" said Angelina. "We can't have this clashing with Quidditch practice"

"Definitely" said Cho.

"Agreed" said Zacharias.

"We can find a night that works for all of us, but I think defending ourselves from Voldemort and his death eaters is a bit of a priority, don't you?" asked Delilah.

"Well said!" said Ernie MacMillan. "This is more important even than our OWLs or other exams we may have! I personally am at a loss as to why we have been given such an incompetent teacher by the ministry in such a critical period! Obviously they are in denial about his return, but giving us a teacher who actively prohibits the use of defensive spells..." he said, trailing off.

"We've taken it from a good source" John started, remembering a particular letter from Sirius, with the occasional additions from Remus. "That the ministry, especially the minister is worried that Dumbledore is using Hogwarts to train an army to seize control"

"That's ridiculous!" cried Neville.

"We know. That aside, once a week, and we'll have to work out where to meet too" said Delilah.

"The library?" asked Katie Bell.

"Because Madame Pince will be accommodating of us practicing jinxes in the library" scoffed Delilah.

"An unused classroom" Dean suggested.

"McGonagall did sometimes let Harry use hers last year when Harry was practicing" said Ron.

That probably wouldn't be the case this year though, given the circumstances and McGonagall's live to fight another day mentality.

"We'll work it out" said Hermione, pulling out a piece of parchment. "I'd also like anyone who's interested to sign their names on this parchment. If you're signing, you're agreeing not to tell anyone, especially Umbridge about what we're doing" she finished.

"Hand it here then" said Fred enthusiastically. It wasn't long before the parchment was passed around and everyone present had signed their names.

Once the Hog's head's customers had dispersed and ventured out into the village, Hermione uncertainly looked at Harry.

"Well I think that went well" she said.

"I suppose so. But did you have to go over what happened to Cedric again?" Harry asked John.

"I think I did. If we're going to deal with idiots like Zacharias Smith, then there's no sugar-coating what will happen. Fake Moody's whole 'constant vigilance' spiel wasn't inaccurate. To be honest, that's what the real Moody says anyway. No wonder no one suspected it was an impostor" John mused.

"That makes sense. I really didn't like that guy though" said Ron.

"Neither did I. But he overheard me talking to Ernie at the Hufflepuff table, and honestly we can't afford to be picky right now, can we? It's why we didn't say no to Luna Lovegood" said Hermione.

"Plus I don't think Michael Corner would've shown up if he wasn't going out with Ginny" said Delilah.

"What? She's going out with... since when?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Last year. This is exactly why she didn't want you to know. She knew you'd take it badly" said Hermione.

"Who's taking it badly? I'm not. Just would've been nice to know if my sister..." Ron grumbled, continuing to mutter unintelligibly under his breath.

"Wait a minute... I thought she fancied Harry?" Ron asked suddenly.

"She used to. She just decided to let go of it. It was only a childish crush really" said Hermione, waving it off.

"So that's why she's actually started talking in front of me then?" Harry asked.

"Obviously" said Delilah, rolling her eyes.

"Speaking of all that, what about you and Cho?" asked Hermione.

"What about it?" Harry asked, blushing not entirely unlike Ginny used to.

"Well she couldn't take her eyes off you today" said Hermione.

Hogsmeade suddenly looked a lot more beautiful to Harry.

"What about Susan?" asked Harry quickly.

"I'm in no rush. She's still getting used to being around a bunch of people at once. I don't think she'd know what to do if I told her how... distracting she is" said John.

"Insert compliment about Susan's looks in place of 'distracting' and you might know what he's actually thinking" said Delilah, elbowing John lightly.

"You're not wrong" said John, smirking. "Though there's a lot more to her than that. One problem at a time though. Harry still doesn't know how to talk to girls properly yet" he added.

"Very funny John" Harry said dryly.

"I do try. Come on, let's work on more anti-Umbridge rebellion tactics"


	11. Dumbledore's army

Even though Homework was still creating a ridiculous pile of parchment on their desks every evening, Harry's state of mind was far healthier and happier than it was earlier in the term. Knowing that at least something was being done about Umbridge's apparent iron grip over Hogwarts, and especially its defence against the dark arts teaching made him far less irritable. Furthermore, the last dregs of Autumn sunlight were still there, even though it wasn't blisteringly hot outside, providing near-perfect weather for him and his friends to do their homework outside at their favourite spot underneath a beech tree.

Hermione and Delilah were as usual, up to date on their homework, and Hermione was therefore, knitting hats for house elves. Delilah was helping Harry with his charms work.

Knowing that a lot of people, more than two-dozen at the school didn't think him to be a lying crackpot, but someone to be admired kept him happy all the way to Monday. At least until they saw the noticeboard. Over the advertisements for Fred and George's products, the reminders of school rules from Filch, the Gryffindor Quidditch training schedule and offers for chocolate frog card trading, there was one large notice with a professional, official appearance with a neat, curly signature topping it off at the end.

 _ **BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS**_

 _All student organisations, societies, teams and clubs are henceforth,_ _ **disbanded**_ _._ _ **  
**_ _An organisation, society, team or club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.  
Permission to re-form may be sought from the __**High Inquisitor**_ _(Professor Umbridge).  
_ _ **No**_ _student organisation, society, team or club may exist at Hogwarts without the_ _ **knowledge and approval**_ _of the High Inquisitor.  
_ _ **Any student**_ _found to have_ _ **formed or belong to**_ _an organisation society, team or club without the approval of the High Inquisitor will be_ _ **Expelled**_ _._

 _This is in accordance with_ _ **EDUCATIONAL DECREE NUMBER TWENTY-FOUR**_

 _Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor._

"See that? That shit right there? That's not a coincidence" said John instantly.

Harry felt sick. He thought the people who came to hear him out had believed him... believed _in_ him. Any of them could have blabbed to Umbridge.

"I'll bet you it was that Zacharias Smith. Or Michael Corner" said Ron in a low, angry voice.

Ignoring the comment about Michael Corner, Harry wouldn't have been surprised if Zacharias Smith was indeed responsible.

"Have the girls seen this yet?" he asked.

"Probably not" said Ron, rushing to the staircase leading to the girls' dormitory. Ron made it up six of the stairs before they made a loud, wailing sound and shifted to form a slide. Ron ungracefully fell backwards down the slide and onto the floor.

"Forgot about that" Ron grumbled, just as two fourth-year girls appeared at the top of the staircase.

"Ooh, who tried to get in?" one of them asked. Both of them were ogling the three boys.

"Me. How did I forget the bloody staircase does that?" Ron asked as the girls slid down to the bottom and walked away giggling and talking excitedly to each other.

"You looked like you had something urgent on your mind" came Hermione's voice as she and Delilah slid much more neatly than Ron did onto the floor.

"Damn right I did! Look at this!" said Ron, picking Hermione up off the floor and dragging her hurriedly to the noticeboard, Delilah following.

Hermione's expression became cold, and Delilah's was furious.

"Somebody blabbed" said Ron with gritted teeth.

"They can't have" said Hermione with a low voice.

"Come on Hermione, just because you've got some integrity, doesn't mean everyone else does" said Harry, rolling his eyes.

"They can't have because I put a jinx on the parchment we all signed" said Hermione firmly.

"A jinx?" John asked, a smile slowly spreading over his face.

"What happens if they blab then?" asked Ron.

"Ask Delilah, it was her idea" said Hermione, giving Delilah an uncharacteristic evil smirk that looked like it would be more at home on John's face.

"Simply put, if anyone blabs, their face will make Eloise Midgen's acne look like the freckles on the bridge of Hermione's nose" said Delilah.

"Damn. Nice one" said John, nodding approvingly.

Apparently, the same notice was put up in the common rooms of the other houses too, based on the more fervent chatter amongst the students. However, none of those who signed up for the defence against the dark arts group seemed to have sprouted spots galore, and so there was another way Umbridge had found out.

"You think she has an invisibility cloak?" asked Ron.

"Not out of the question" Hermione mused. "We can test that though, using the" she started, looking around carefully. "Map" she finished.

"If she's capable of monitoring us at Hogsmeadede, then where does it end? Does she have some bullshit network of spies or something?" asked John.

"I don't think so. But the Minister? I'm sure he does" Delilah said darkly.

"You don't think Fudge has spies looking in on Hogwarts student activity?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Why not? Fudge is paranoid about Dumbledore using Hogwarts as a training ground for an army, one that can act as an insurrection and stage a coup. I think he'd dedicate a lot of resources to spying on Hogwarts students. Umbridge is probably just the face of the Ministry's new influence here" Delilah explained.

"You sure you want to be a healer and not a government strategist?" John asked, staring at her in amazement.

Delilah laughed.

"I'm sure"

* * *

That evening, Sirius was to appear in the Gryffindor Common room fireplace, and there was a lot on their minds. Apparently there was a lot on his too.

"Hi" came his voice late that night. It woke Ron up, and he in turn poked John awake, before all five of them sat down on the rug in front of the fire.

"Before anything else, Harry, John, why didn't you tell us about the blood quills?" asked Sirius.

"Because we can't do anything about it. Before she became the High Inquisitor, we just stopped showing up to her detentions, but now she's got the power to just expel us" said John.

"Things aren't great then I imagine" said Sirius solemnly.

"Understatement of the year. Umbridge has this new rule where all groups operate with her knowledge only, like Quidditch teams, gobstones clubs..." Ron started.

"Secret defence against the dark arts groups?" asked Sirius, grinning.

"Wait... what? How did you know?" asked John. Sirius' grin broadened.

"You'll want to choose meeting places more carefully. The Hog's head? Honestly..." said Sirius.

"We went there because the three broomsticks is always packed!" Hermione said defensively.

"You have a lot to learn Hermione. A packed establishment makes you harder to overhear. Just be glad that Mundungus was the one who heard you" said Sirius.

"Dung was there?" Harry asked, confused.

"Yeah. In disguise of course" said Sirius cryptically. "Now I've been asked to pass a message from your mother Ron"

"What's that?" asked Ron.

"She's not too keen on you joining this group. I on the other hand... think it's a brilliant idea" said Sirius.

"You do?" asked Delilah, sounding astonished.

"I do. Under no circumstances would James and I have lay down and taken orders from someone like Umbridge" said Sirius.

"What changed from last year? You said that I needed to not take risks and be careful and all that" said Harry.

"Last year, the evidence was that someone in Hogwarts wanted you dead. Now, there's someone outside Hogwarts who'll want us all dead. Learning and practicing defence sounds like a good idea to me" said Sirius simply.

"It'll be hand-to-hand stuff, like you taught us too" said John.

"Great. Now how are you organising this?" asked Sirius.

"That's the problem. We have no idea where we'd meet" said Harry.

"Shrieking shack is too small, the passageway on the fourth floor on the map is caved in, we're not about to head into the forest while there's a colony of arcromantula running around... I'm just not sure" said John.

Sirius pondered for a moment.

"I'll have a think myself and-" he started, before his face took on a mask of shock and vanished. Seconds later, a pudgy hand was in the flames, as if making to grab Sirius' head where it had been mere moments before.

The five youngsters exchanged shocked looks. Umbridge was monitoring absolutely everything.

* * *

The only explanation any of them could come up with was that Umbridge was monitoring Harry's mail. It also explained how Hedwig's most recent arrival was marked by her wing being damaged.

The good news was that Gryffindor was finally allowed to practice again, and yet even this was marred by Harry's scar at the end. A sharp, piercing pain shot through his forehead as he got changed.

"OW!" Harry yelped.

"Poked myself in the eye by accident. I'm fine" Harry grunted when the faces of the team turned to him.

Ron and John both knew what Harry was actually pained by.

"Scar?" John asked in a low voice when the three of them were on the way back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Yeah" said Harry grimly.

"Hang on... he can't be near now, can he?" Ron asked.

"No. It hurt because... he's angry, he... he wants something done and it's not being done fast enough" said Harry. It didn't feel like he himself had said those words.

"Did... did you have some kind of vision?" Ron asked.

"No... it's more like I'm feeling his mood. Well... not feeling. More like reading his mood" said Harry.

"Dumbledore. You've got to tell him" said Ron instantly.

"He already knows" said Harry. The truth was that he just didn't want to talk to Dumbledore if Dumbledore didn't want to talk to him.

"He'd still want to know about this one" said John.

Harry shrugged.

"Come on. We're all still shit at silencing charms" said John in a resigned tone.

Silencing charm practice did end up occurring, but Harry also needed to stay up later than the others to work on an essay Snape assigned him specifically, owing to him not correctly brewing last week's potion. Why Snape was easing up on John and cracking down on Harry was beyond either of them. His head and eyelids were getting heavy as he read about befuddlement drafts, and before he knew it, he was walking along a dark corridor with no windows. He saw a door at the end and felt excitement rush through him as he neared it. He stretched out his hand, ready to touch the handle...

"Harry Potter sir!"

Harry confusedly woke up and lifted his head off the desk, feeling slightly dizzy and disorientated for a moment, before realizing that he was in Hogwarts, sat in the common room at night with none other than Dobby, and he wasn't alone. Hedwig was perched on top of him. Rather... Hedwig was perched on top of Dobby who appeared to be wearing every hat Hermione had ever knitted, forming a two foot pile on his head.

"Dobby?" Harry asked groggily, taking his glasses off to rub his eyes.

"Dobby has Harry Potter's owl sir!" said Dobby, walking up to Harry and allowing Hedwig to happily perch herself on Harry's shoulder, where she so often spent time outside her cage. Hedwig had been attacked and intercepted, but managed to deliver Sirius' letter, and she had been under professor Grubbly-Plank's care for a few days.

"Thanks Dobby! Err... have you been taking all the clothes Hermione's been leaving then?" asked Harry.

"Not all of them sir! Dobby has taken some for Winky too" said Dobby brightly.

"Right. And how is she?" asked Harry.

Dobby's eyes fell.

"Winky is still drinking a lot sir. But she is better than last year" he said. "Has Harry Potter been having bad dreams?" he added.

Harry thought for a moment. The dream he just had. Was it bad? He didn't know how to describe it.

"Not bad. Just... weird" said Harry, vaguely.

"If there is anything Dobby can do to help, please tell Dobby!" Dobby said eagerly, bouncing on the spot almost like a child.

"No, you can't help, but thanks for the offer" said Harry politely, before picking up his half-finished essay for Snape. The scar on his hand, which was now white and illuminated against the dying firelight showed very prominently as he did so...

"Wait a minute, there is something" said Harry.

"Anything sir!" Dobby squeaked happily.

"So... I need to find a place where thirty or so people can practice defence against the dark arts" said Harry. He expected Dobby's ears to droop and for him to promise his best efforts. He did not expect an excited bounce and a clap of the elf's tiny hands.

"Dobby knows the perfect place sir! He heard of it from the other house elves! It is known as the Room of Requirement or the Come and Go Room!" said Dobby.

"Why's that?" Harry asked.

"Because it only appears when a person has great need of it. Dobby has used it when Winky has been very drunk, and laid her down on an elf-sized bed with antidotes, and he has heard of the caretaker getting extra cleaning supplies" said Dobby.

"Wait a minute..." Harry started, remembering something Dumbledore talked about at the Yule ball. "If someone really needed to use the bathroom, would a room filled with chamber-pots show up?" asked Harry.

"Dobby would imagine so. It is a most wonderous room" said Dobby.

"Who knows about it?" asked Harry.

"Very few people. Mostly they stumbles across it and never find it again" said Dobby.

"Brilliant! This sounds perfect... can you tell me how to get there? I need to plan this really carefully"

* * *

The next day, aside from lessons was spent spreading the word among the twenty five who showed up at the Hog's head about the Room of Requirement.

Harry waited inside the room with John and the marauder's map. Hermione and Delilah were the first to arrive, apparently having just finished ancient runes work, followed by Ron, who was accompanied by Ginny, Fred and George.

The room was filled with useful practicing objects, including crash mats, bookcases filled with defensive magical theory books, foe glasses and sneakoscopes, as well as a few wing-chun dummies.

"What are all these things?" asked Ron, pointing to the foe glasses and dummies.

"Foe glasses. They show when your enemies are near, but they can be fooled, so don't trust them too much. No idea what those padded poles with padded branches are" said Harry.

"Wing-chun dummies. There were a couple at the youth centre. Really useful to practice hand-to-hand techniques" said John.

"Show us how they work" said Ginny eagerly.

"Sure" said John, walking up to one of the dummies and taking a standard stance. The dummy's branches acted like outstretched arms, so John had to dodge them while he made his strikes, as well as striking them along with the main pole.

"The key" John breathed out as he continued striking and dodging. "Is to look at the centre, not the arms. I'll show you why later" said John, throwing a hard, low kick and a swift elbow-strike to the centre.

John continued striking them for another five minutes and hadn't noticed everyone else arrive, so when he turned around, slightly out of breath, but pumped full of adrenaline, he found himself rather surprised.

"Wow... how long was I on that dummy?" asked John.

"Five minutes" said Delilah, looking at John with wide, impressed eyes.

John found himself swelling with pride at Susan's wide-eyed look of awe, but didn't let it show.

"So now everyone's found this place, let's get a few things out of the way" said Hermione.

"What do we need to work out now?" asked Fred.

"A name I think" said Hermione. "I'd like a bit of team-spirit and unity"

"Anti-Umbridge league" said Angelina instantly.

"The ministry are morons group" said George thoughtfully.

"I'd rather use a name which doesn't give us away" said Hermione, raising an eyebrow.

"The defence association then? Or the DA for short" Cho offered.

"DA isn't bad" Ginny said, thoughtfully "But we should make it Dumbledore's Army. That's what the Ministry is really afraid of" said Ginny.

Everyone either murmured agreements or laughed enthusiastically.

"I'm totally up for that" said John.

Hermione nodded and took the parchment everyone had signed, and at the top, wrote 'Dumbledore's Army' in bold, black letters, before pinning it to a noticeboard.

"And now we need a leader" said Delilah.

"That's Harry!" said Cho, looking at Delilah as if she were insane. Harry swelled with pride.

"Or John" said Susan loudly, though when a few people looked at her, she seemed to shrink. It did make John feel good though.

"We should vote really. It'd give the person some democratic power" said Delilah.

Fifteen people each voted for Harry and John.

"We'll share it then. Simple enough" said John.

"Right then" said Harry. "To start, we need everyone properly casting Expelliarmus, the disarming charm. Sounds basic, I know but I've found it really useful" said Harry.

"Oh please" said Zacharias. "I don't think Expelliarmus is going to help against You-Know-Who, is it?"

"You'd be surprised. It's exactly the spell which saved Harry's life a couple of months ago against Voldemort himself. And I only used stunning spells" said John.

Zacharias fell silent.

"Well... we did have help from a bear" John added.

Ron, Ginny, Fred George and Delilah laughed.

"Alright. Get into pairs and try to disarm each other" said Harry. Giving instructions felt bizarre. As if he were only filling in, doing someone else's job.

It wasn't long before incantations were yelled, wands flew, and missed spells sent books flying. It was a good idea to start with basics. A lot of shoddy wand movements were going on.

Harry and John walked amongst everyone, correcting mistakes as they saw them. Harry found himself blushing when he had apparently 'distracted' Cho and made her nervous when she disarmed herself instead of her friend Marietta.

Improvements were made, but not quite enough, and yet they were running out of time. _I need a whistle_ , Harry thought, and sure enough, a whistle materialized in his hands, and he blew it.

"Alright, so that wasn't bad, but there's room for improvement. We don't have a whole lot of time. John needs to go through a couple of basic hand-to-hand stuff as well. You can always use this room on your own time to practice of course" said Harry.

People nodded and murmured in agreement, and John stepped forwards.

"Alright, so some of you are probably wondering how hand-to-hand stuff helps in a duel when you're throwing spells at each other from range" said John.

Zacharias scoffed, but didn't say anything this time.

"Harry, stand there. We'll duel for a bit, only to disarm. I'll show everyone why it's useful. So Harry's probably a shade more skillful with wands than I am, so he'd probably win eventually if it were just wands. Here's what you do in that situation" said John, bowing to Harry, who bowed back.

Harry threw the first disarming spell, which John ducked under and returned in kind. Harry stepped to the side of it, but by the time he was returning another spell of his own, John had closed the distance between the two of them, struck Harry's wrist hard enough for him to drop his wand. Harry looked at John uncertainly, but John nodded. Harry threw a punch his way, John blocked it, wrapped his arm around Harry's back, swerved his hips, and before Harry knew it, he was thrown over John's back, though with a safe landing on a crash mat.

"Pretty simple actually" said John, as Harry stood up. He couldn't help but look at Susan, who looked particularly impressed.

"So we'll start off with the simple stuff. Who knows how to block punches? Not a punch, but punches. Not you three" John said, pointing at Hermione, Delilah and Ron, who had some decent experience themselves.

Zacharias raised his hand, with a bored expression.

"Alright, come here" said John. Zacharias did look quite intimidated though. John was much bigger and much stronger.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Just testing how you block" said John reassuringly.

Zacharias nodded, and John threw one light but fast punch at Zacharias' stomach, which he blocked, and then another at his shoulder, which he failed to block, and yet another at his stomach, which he also failed to block. John stopped, knowing that Zacharias was already too far behind.

"Alright, so you don't. You can block one, but that's not enough" said John. "Common mistake actually. So does anyone know what he was doing wrong?" asked John.

No one answered at first though John knew that Ron, Hermione and Delilah knew what Zacharias did wrong.

Susan raised her hand.

"I'm not Umbridge" said John, laughing. Susan blushed.

"Was he looking at your hands?" she asked.

"Exactly" said John. Susan's blush intensified. "Where should he have been looking?" asked John.

"Your... hips?" Susan guessed.

"I can see why you'd think that, but no" said John. "He should be looking anywhere from my eyes to my upper chest. It allows him to see which way my body turns. before I throw a punch. His peripheral vision does the rest" John explained. "And yes, if you're paired with a girl and you're a guy, I'm saying you're allowed to stare at their chest" he added, causing most of the group to laugh. He saw Hermione blushing furiously.

"I won't stare at your chest" Ron mumbled nervously. Hermione nodded.

"So... pair up again. Size doesn't matter yet. We're not aiming to hit hard and knock each other out. One of you make unpredictable strikes at your partner, the other block. Remember to stare anywhere between the eyes and upper chest. Again, please don't hit hard. Make the strikes fast, but don't put weight behind them. We can't injure each other doing this" John explained.

John was surprised by how easily everyone seemed to understand the concept. Everyone was blocking almost everything with relative ease. However, before he knew it, it was already past nine in the night, and people needed to be back in their common rooms or risk detentions.

"Same time next week?" asked Lavender.

"Earlier!" said Dean eagerly.

"But what about Quidditch practice?" asked Angelina.

"We'll work that out and spread the word, alright?" asked John.

"Yeah, if we meet regularly, we'll get to be too predictable" said Harry.

"Makes sense" Ron mused.

"We'll have to think of a way to communicate covertly. Actually, I have an idea, I'll need your help though Hermione" said Delilah.

"Oh? Can any of us help?" asked Ron.

"I wish you could, but Hermione's the only one good enough at charms" said Delilah.

"Fair enough. So we'll meet here whenever we can, probably a weekend. Practice here in your own time, bring partners, whatever you need. This room appears whenever you have a real need for it" said John encouragingly.

As they headed back to the common room, Harry could only think about how Cho found him to be a distracting presence. Ron used to say the same thing about Hermione. He still did.


	12. Hagrid and the Giants

Knowing that Umbridge's latest educational decree was being flouted under her very nose allowed Harry to keep his temper, even in lessons with her. It was giving John some strange extension on his already formidable confidence, and it didn't take long for Harry or the others to notice how much more often John sat beside Susan in lessons. Ron and Hermione, who were largely the same around each other for the past couple of weeks seemed to have found a new energy and were sneaking off together at least twice a day, and Delilah's flirtatious behaviour with George seemed to worsen by the day.

George took it in his stride and Fred was rather bemused but accepted it.

Every day, Harry had new proud memories of the DA meetings. Neville had managed to disarm Hermione, Colin Creevey had mastered the impediment jinx in three meetings, Parvati had produced a reductor curse so powerful that the table holding sneakoscopes was reduced to dust. Ginny was now capable of knocking John, someone nearly twice her weight to the floor, and Dean, normally a rather mild-mannered boy was throwing punches with such speed and accuracy that only John was capable of blocking them consistently.

Better still, Hermione and Delilah had come up with a way for DA members to communicate which could only be described as a stroke of genius. During the second meeting, Hermione and Delilah had brought a box with thirty fake galleons in it. Ron at first thought they were giving out gold, but it turned out that the galleons had something called protean charms on it. Harry, the more responsible of the two leaders was given the 'keystone' galleon, which he would use to set the date and time for the next meeting, which would replace serial numbers on ordinary galleons. Other DA members would be able to see it and the galleon would heat up when new messages were written.

"Protean charms are N.E.W.T level!" said Terry Boot, astonished.

Hermione blushed, being the one who actually cast the charm.

"How come you're not in Ravenclaw?" asked Michael Corner.

"The hat thought I would do well there, but I actually wanted to go to Gryffindor, and the hat obliged I suppose" said Hermione.

Harry grinned. That certainly sounded familiar.

"This reminds me of Voldemort's death eaters in a way. Their scars, if they get touched by Voldemort, heat up and they know they've got to join him" John mused.

Delilah grimaced.

"Well yes, but I'd rather engrave dates and times on metal than carve and burn them into our skin" she said.

"Your way's far better" said Harry, laughing.

"Let's try not to spend them" said John sarcastically.

The build-up to the Quidditch match was as always, tense and filled with animosity given that it was Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. However, whatever animosity the two houses had couldn't compare to Malfoy's reaction to Gryffindor hammering Slytherin two-hundred to twenty, in spite of a rather horrific song about Ron. Malfoy and the Slytherin team were obviously banking on Ron not being a very good keeper, but his performance was a rather strong one. Perhaps Oliver Wood would have saved one more goal than Ron, but getting past him was clearly a much harder ask than it was for the clearly dominant John to get past the Slytherin team. It went without saying that Harry once again beat Malfoy to the snitch.

Unfortunately, this led Malfoy to make some comments Harry wished he'd never have heard.

"We couldn't fit in lyrics about his mother and father, because we couldn't find rhymes for fat, lazy and useless" Malfoy drawled loudly. John was having to hold Harry and George back, and the rest of the team were holding Fred and Ron back.

The look on John's face suggested that he dearly wanted to release George and Harry and let them turn Malfoy's face into a crater.

"But you like the Weasleys don't you? Spend every summer at theirs. No idea how you would deal with the stench, but I suppose being raised by muggles lowers one's standards" Malfoy taunted, noting that Madame Hooch was still berating Crabbe for an illegal bludger attack.

"Ron, just dock some points" John said, turning to Ron desperately, realizing that releasing Harry and George was sounding more and more like the rational thing to do.

"What? Oh, right! Malfoy, every word you use in the next insult costs you five points" said Ron, triumphantly. The look on Malfoy's face relaxed Fred, George and Harry enough for John and the others to let go of them.

"You guys have to learn to control those fucking tempers" said John exasperatedly.

"Hem hem"

John's heart sank. Umbridge's trademark attention grabbing cough seemed to reverberate throughout his entire body.

"Such language... I'm afraid you'll have to come to me for more detentions Mr. Potter" said Umbridge.

John wanted to (ironically) curse again. He was certain that the words 'authority is to be respected' were now permanently carved and scarred onto his left hand. Apparently Umbridge was perfectly at peace with adding to the marks on his hand.

* * *

"I'm sorry mate, if I'd kept my head-" Ron started later, once they got to the common room. Harry was in agreement.

"Nah, she was bound to catch me swearing one of these days" John said, waving it off.

"Still though, she's going to leave another scar" said Hermione worriedly.

"Yeah, that won't be fun. But I'll get over it" said John.

"At least she hasn't caught us doing something worse" said Delilah brightly.

"Yeah, I don't even want to know what she'd do if she found the DA" said Harry quietly.

"Oh I'm sure Umbitch knows we're doing something. She'll just need proof" said John, causing everyone nearby to burst out laughing.

"Umbitch! Brilliant!" Harry said in between laughs.

"Dumbitch..." Ron said, as if sounding out a brand new addition to his verbal vocabulary, causing them to laugh louder.

"Yeah... every DA meeting, we're referring to her as Dumbitch from now on" said John, grinning broadly.

A still-grinning Hermione turned from looking outside the window.

"There's better news still" she said.

"What's that?" asked Delilah.

"Hagrid's back" she said.

It took everyone mere seconds to head to their dorms and pick up their jumpers. Hermione seemed to overdo things slightly, using a jumper, a jacket, a scarf, gloves and a wool hat. Ron smirked broadly.

"Did I miss something? Are we... are we heading to the arctic?" John asked, grinning at Ron.

"It's cold!" Hermione said defensively.

"Someone should write a comedy comic strip about you" said Harry. Hermione blushed, but no one dwelled on it, and everyone headed down towards Hagrid's hut.

Harry had the cloak and John had the map, so getting down there without being seen wasn't an issue at all. The issue was keeping Hermione's mouth shut when she screamed upon Hagrid's appearance.

The left side of his face was a mass of purple and red bruises, and his left eye was swollen shut completely.

"Hagrid! What happened?" Delilah whispered hurriedly, whilst Hagrid ushered them into his hut.

"Shoulda known it'd be you lot" Hagird said gruffly, quickly shutting his door. In his other hand, he held what looked like a green, raw steak. He sat down and pressed it against his eye.

"Err... don't you want something more... fresh?" Ron asked.

"That's dragon meat. It's supposed ter look like tha'" Hagrid explained, sighing in relief as he held it against his face. "Helps with the stingin'"

"I'm going to guess that the giants did that to you" said John with folded arms and a raised eyebrow.

"Wha'? Giants? Don't know what yeh're talkin' abou'!" Hagrid said, obviously flustered.

"We know about the Order Hagrid. After the dementors attacked me and John-" Harry started.

"Dementors? What dementors? When?" Hagrid asked with a panicked voice.

"If you tell us about the giants, we'll tell you about the dementors" said John, before Harry explained the attack.

"Yeh're more trouble n' yeh're worth sometimes" Hagrid said, chuckling.

John shrugged innocently.

"And I'm sure you're not supposed to tell us what you're about to" said Delilah, laughing too.

"No. No I'm not" said Hagrid, taking a couple of glances out of the windows to check if they were going to be undisturbed.

"The journey there wern't the hard bit. Me n' Olympe stick out, sure enough, but apart from a disagreement with a vampire in a pub in Minsk, we got there alrigh'" Hagrid explained.

"Madame Maxime was there?" Delilah asked curiously.

"She was. She's a righ' side tougher than she looks. She's all elegance and grace 'round students, but when we were sleepin' in dingy pubs or caves she never complained" said Hagrid.

That both surprised and impressed John, who remembered Fleur and thought of how quickly she had complained about Hogwarts at first.

"So you went to treat with giants on Dumbledore's behalf. Where are they exactly? I know they're meant to be pretty rare these days" said Ron.

"Mountains. Keep ter themselves, mostly. S'long as wizards don't interact with them, they don't bother us none" said Hagrid.

"What about muggles? Muggles often climb mountains as a sport" said Hermione.

"Oh they find muggles alrigh'. I'll say this. If muggles meet giants, yeh'll find tha' there's been another mountaineering accident" said Hagrid darkly.

"So they really are that violent..." Ron mused.

"You knew where you were going then? I thought the location would've been quite a secret" Delilah asked.

"Not really. Dumbledore knew, told us where they were, but it's not a secret. Wizards just don' bother 'em. Good thing too" said Hagrid.

"Mind you, it's difficult for humans, gettin' to them. Bu' we found 'em alrigh'. Saw some fires underneath us with big moving shadows. Was almos' like seeing bits of mountains movin'" said Hagrid.

"How big are they exactly?" John asked.

"Twenty feet tall. Some of the bigger ones were probably pushin' twenty-five" said Hagrid.

"Damn... Must be multi-tonne individuals each. Five, six tonnes" John said quietly.

"How many?" asked Harry.

"Seventy or eighty I reckon" said Hagrid.

"That's all? They're almost extinct!" said Hermione.

"Yeah" said Hagrid sadly. "Eighty left an' there must've bin loads once, tribes from all around the world. Wizards killed some o'course, but they killed each other mostly. Thing is, they're not meant ter live together like tha'. Dumbledore says it's our fault, wizards forcin' 'em to live together fer safety, seeing as how we took all the land" said Hagrid.

"So how did you treat with them? I reckon giants would hate wizards" said Ron.

"Not quite. What they hate is usin' magic against 'em. What we did was walk in with gifts from Dumbledore, ignore most of the giants and look only at the gurg" said Hagrid.

"Gurg?" Harry asked.

"Chieftan. Karkus, his name was. He was easy to spot, he was one of the biggest, and definitely the ugliest. Twenty three feet tall, sat in the middle, other giants bringin' food to him. We turned up with a goblin made helmet and Gurbraithian fire" said Hagrid.

"And what happened then?" asked John.

"Karkus liked the gifts. Looked like the giants would be on our side. Next morning though, we saw Karkus' head lyin' on the ground. An even bigger giant, Golgamath ripped it clean off" said Hagrid grimly. Delilah grimaced and Hermione looked slightly ill at that.

"So he's the new chieftan then" said John, matter-of-factly.

"That he is. And he's not to keen on joinin' Dumbledore. MacNair got him on... _their_ side. Now yeah, a couple o' giants prefer Dumbledore's ideas, but too many of 'em love killin'" said Hagrid.

"Great. No wonder they're nearly extinct" said John.

"John!" Hermione said, scandalized.

"Darwin wasn't wrong Hermione. He's still not wrong. A race that wants to fight and kill isn't going to last" John explained.

"John's right" Hagrid said, sighing. "Hard problem ter fix"

Before anyone could ask further about the visit to the giant colony, they were interrupted by loud knocks on the door.

"Umbridge!" Ron hissed.

No words needed to be spoken. Hermione, Delilah and Harry, being the smallest, managed to hide under the invisibility cloak, and Ron and John got creative with hiding spots, managing to make it outside and onto the roof of Hagrid's hut.

"John... footprints" Ron whispered to John. He was right. They had left five sets of footprints, all of which were too small to be Hagrid's outside the hut.

"Damnit... why didn't we think about that?" John asked, cursing himself.

Umbridge did look suspicious when she left, but thankfully, she had no proof of anything whatsoever. That being said, Hermione was particularly worried about Umbridge inspecting Hagrid's lessons. Professor Grubbly-Plank had been inspected and her lesson was apparently to Umbridge's liking. Hagrid wasn't likely to fare as well with his love for extremely dangerous animals.

"I don't think Hermione got through to Hagrid about teaching dull creatures" said Harry glumly as they walked back up to the castle.

"I'll plan his lessons if I have to. I don't care if Trelawney's probation leads to her being thrown out, but she _won't_ get Hagrid!" Hermione said with no shortage of fiery determination.

* * *

"And you're telling me she didn't work it out?" Harry asked, laughing.

"Yep. Honestly I think it's... I dunno... cute... endearing... something like that" said John.

"I just reckon she's not used to the attention" said Ron thoughtfully.

"What are you three talking about? Shouldn't you be working?" came Delilah's voice. She and Hermione had now returned from Hagrid's.

"Susan. I asked her to come with me on the next Hogsmeade weekend, but I don't think she figured out that I'm trying to ask her out on a date" said John, trying to contain a smile.

"That's... actually adorable. Though somewhat sad in a way" said Hermione.

"Sad?" Ron asked.

"Well she's obviously received so little attention that she can't recognize when someone fancies her" said Hermione.

"Because you were great at realizing that Ron's completely crazy about you before I jammed the message through your skulls myself" said John with a raised eyebrow.

Hermione blushed.

"It's okay, I was just as terrible at that" said Ron as Hermione sat beside him.

"So how did it go with Hagrid?" asked Harry.

"I'm not too optimistic. He kept going on about how no-one would rather study knarls than chimeras" said Delilah.

"Chi... Chimeras? He can't seriously have those, surely?" Harry asked anxiously.

"Oh no, he doesn't. Not for lack of trying of course" said Delilah, shaking her head.

"Do you know what he's using then?" asked Ron.

"No. He just won't say anything. And he won't say anything about how he got those injuries either" said Hermione frustratedly.

"Perfect. Watch how he brings a fucking dementor into class or something" said John.

"He said he's got a trained, domesticated herd. So I don't think they'll be that dangerous, but not following Grubbly-Plank's plan... I don't know" Delilah explained.

"We'll find out tomorrow won't we? Come on, let's get to the room of requirement" said John. They were conducting another DA meeting.

It was an important lesson that day. It would be the first lesson in which full-contact sparring would happen (though under John's supervision). Also, John told the DA to not care about partnering with someone of equal size, to partner at random to simulate a real fight. The room provided pads to minimize injury thankfully.

John was however, rather dismayed to find that Susan had chosen him as her partner. He knew he had to hold back no matter who his partner was, but even so, being opposite Susan made things harder. Ron and Hermione's infuriating grins didn't make things easier. At least Delilah was watching Fred and George's spar.

Susan was the first to throw a strike, this one at John's face, which he caught with ease.

"When your opponent is ready, don't aim for their face, because that's where their eyes are. They'll see it coming" said John.

Susan nodded, and aimed a kick at John's padded shin, which John was ready for. He planted his feet, forcing his weight down into the ground, and her kick had no effect. John took the opportunity to catch her leg, lift it upwards and dropped her onto the crash-mat behind her, though he did so deliberately gently. He couldn't stop himself from blushing as he landed on top of her. Hearing Ron laughing at him made it worse, irrespective of Hermione's half-hearted slap on his shoulder

He quickly got off her and stood, helping her to her feet.

"Not every kick has to be a fight-ender. You can use them to just... probe really. Those big kicks are easy to catch if you're not careful" said John.

Seeing the amount of effort she was putting in and seeing her listening to him so intently, also looking at him with thinly veiled admiration made him feel that much more optimistic about the next Hogsmeade weekend.

"Have you fought a lot? Hand to hand that is" Susan asked, parrying some deliberately controlled punches from John.

"Once or twice. Mostly in training otherwise, but in the real fights, the principles still apply" said John.

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to go hand-to-hand" Susan said quietly. John frowned.

"Alright, everyone take a break!" he called, and the DA, which previously looked organised and was paired up with sparring partners, disbanded and relaxed.

"So what makes you say that?" John asked, leading Susan over to a crash mat in the corner of the room where the pair of them sat.

"Honestly, I just... don't think I have it in me" said Susan.

"What do you mean?" John asked.

"Have you noticed how weak my strikes are? That's on purpose" said Susan.

John stayed quiet. He had noticed. Susan didn't have a mean bone in her body.

"I'm not brave, like you, or Harry, Ron, Hermione or Delilah. I don't fight, save people and destroy evil every year. For goodness sake, I've only just started to improve among crowds!" she said frustratedly.

"Being brave is relative, and it's only about one thing" said John.

"What's that then?" Susan asked.

"Facing your fears. Being fearless is actually pretty stupid. Harry's afraid of stuff too you know? He's fucking _terrified_ of dementors. Good thing he knows how to cast a patronus"

"And what about you?" Susan pressed.

"Me? It used to be dementors, but now I... well... it's sort of hard to explain. Kind of personal too" said John quietly.

"Oh... I'm sorry" said Susan quietly.

"Don't worry about it. Maybe I'll figure out how to explain it one day, and I'll tell you" said John.

"It would be nice to know what frightens someone who's so apparently unstoppable" said Susan, smiling shyly.

"Unstoppable?" John asked laughing.

"Yes. You're great at defence against the dark arts, built like a bear, fight equally well with hands and wands, and you can literally _become_ a bear. Unstoppable sounds like a good enough description to me" said Susan. Upon realising that she'd just complemented John's body out loud, she blushed.

"Yeah... you're probably right. Only time will tell though" John mused. "Well... time, and a bunch of death eaters who want my head on a spike"

Dark humour or not, Susan laughed. Satisfied with where the conversation had come to a conclusion, John raised his voice to address the DA again.

"Break's over!"

* * *

The care of magical creatures lesson was marked with a pungent odour, and the sight of the source of the odour made Hermione groan with frustration. Hagrid was carrying a dead cow. It was a miracle Umbridge wasn't there at that moment. Worse still though, was that Hagrid was still covered in bruises.

"Gather round here everyone!" he said. He was standing a few metres within the forbidden forest's treeline. "They prefer the dark!"

"What did he say prefers the dark?" came Malfoy's somewhat agitated voice.

Crabbe and Goyle, as expected shrugged and grunted stupidly. Obviously they wouldn't know. Harry could also remember the last time Malfoy had been in the forest. He wasn't particularly brave then either.

"Ah, the pride of Slytherin house and the Malfoy family indeed" John said in a mockingly poetic voice.

Malfoy clearly wanted to snap back with some witty retort, but Hagrid's lesson's subject appeared before he could do so. Another of the black, skeletal, winged horses appeared, and finally, Harry and John had proof that they weren't going mad. However, Ron, Hermione and Delilah couldn't see it.

"Here comes another two!" said Hagrid, pointing at two more of them. These ones were larger. They were, Harry realized, some of the ones which pulled the Hogwarts carriages.

"What are we supposed to be looking at?" Malfoy asked rudely.

Hagrid pointed at the cow carcass, as the thestrals began eating it. Lavender shrieked. To her it must have appeared as if the carcass was stripping itself of its meat.

"What's doing it?" Parvati wailed.

"Thestrals! Don' worry, they're no' dangerous. Now. Who can see 'em?" asked Hagrid.

Harry raised a shaking hand. John too raised his, as did Neville.

"I knew yeh'd be able ter see 'em. You can too Neville, an'..." Hagrid started.

"B-but they're supposed to be really unlucky! Professor Trelawney told me-" Parvati interrupted, sounding panicked.

"No, no no" Hagrid chuckled. "Tha' is jus' superstition. Yeh see, thestrals are dead clever and useful ter boot. This lot don' get lots o' work, they jus' pull the carriages or help Dumbledore out if he's got a long journey and he don't want ter apparate. Oh, here comes another!" said Hagrid.

This one appeared to be an alpha male of sorts. It was at least twenty per cent larger than any of the others, and as soon as it arrived at the cow carcass, it ripped off a hind leg on its own, causing the class to collectively gasp. John took a few steps closer and looked at the thestral with great interest. Large or not, there was still barely any visible muscle on the creature. Where did it get the power to rip off the leg of an adult cow? It would have been possible for him if he were a bear, but even in his human form John thought he had more visible muscle than the skeletal animal in front of him. His human form wasn't capable of ripping the legs of large muscular animals like cows, that much was certain.

"Now... can anyone tell me why only a few of yeh can see 'em?" asked Hagrid.

Hermione raised her hand.

"Thestrals can only be seen by those who have seen death" she said, casting a wary sideways glance at Harry, knowing John would remain unfazed.

"Exactly righ' Hermione" Hagrid said solemnly. "Ten points ter Gryffindor. Now, they aren' dangerous, but yeh'd be best served-"

"Hem hem"

It took all of John's willpower not to yell 'fuck off' upon hearing Umbridge's now infamous attention-grabbing... no, attention demanding cough.


	13. Through the Serpent's Eye

"So, what are you teaching the students about today?" asked Umbridge sweetly.

"Thestrals!" said Hagrid happily.

"Excuse me?" Umbridge asked, cupping her hand around her ear in an exaggerated manner.

"Er- Thestrals! Yeh know, big, winged horses?" Hagrid asked, flapping his arms in a vaguely wing-like manner.

"Has-to-resort-to-crude-hand-gestures" Umbridge said aloud, writing on her clipboard.

"When can I give her a bear rush?" John muttered to Delilah.

"When she leaves the school" Delilah replied distastefully.

"Err... anyway, wha' was I sayin'?" Hagrid said.

"Appears-to have-poor-short-term-memory" said Umbridge, continuing to write on the clipboard. The Slytherins aside from Daphne seemed to find this particularly funny.

Hagrid was looking more and more flustered by the minute.

"So anyway, we had this male here, those there are the females-" he started.

"You are aware that the ministry classifies thestrals as dangerous, are you not?" Umbridge interrupted.

Harry's heart dropped, but Hagrid merely chuckled.

"They're not dangerous! Alrigh', they might give yeh a bite, but it's not anything a regular dog wouldn't do!" said Hagrid jovially.

Umbridge tried and failed to hide a sinister smile as she continued to write on her clipboard.

"Professor, isn't that confirmation bias?" John said loudly, before Hagrid could continue to teach.

"John, don't!" Hermione whispered urgently, tugging at his sleeve, but John ignored her.

"Excuse me?" Umbridge asked.

"You're trying to put professor Hagrid in a no-win situation, aren't you? You're seeing what you want to see and reporting what you want to report. That's confirmation bias right there" said John.

"What have I told you about speaking freely Mr. Potter?" Umbridge asked him smugly. Hermione groaned.

"That it's a privilege. Now I think you're wrong there, but even if it is a privilege, Professor Hagrid, you don't mind me speaking freely, do you? It is _your_ lesson after all" said John. Umbridge's smug smile faltered.

"O'course not John, go ahead" said Hagrid with a smile which suggested that he'd caught on.

"Well you've been asking questions which only fit with what you _want_ to think about these lessons. Shouldn't you be a bit more... I dunno, _fair? Unbiased?_ " John asked.

"I am being unbiased Potter, perhaps you're being bisaed. Biased enough perhaps... for me to extend your detention for another evening" said Umbridge.

"And I'll be there" said John, looking at her defiantly.

Umbridge looked extremely taken aback at that, but shook it off and continued her inspection.

* * *

"You're going to have to stop, or there won't be any skin left on the back of your hand" said Delilah.

"I don't care. I'm not letting her think she has complete control, period. She needs to know that her insane authoritarian horseshit is going to be challenged" said John.

"There have to be better ways of challenging her!" Hermione said vehemently.

"Probably. I haven't thought of them though" said John. "Besides, what about what she just did to Hagrid?" he continued.

"I know" said Harry. "There's got to be something we can do about her, but preferably _without_ letting her slash your hands" he added with a pointed look at John.

"She might have had a point if it were blast-ended skrewts again, but Thestrals? They're really interesting! The way some people can see them and others can't... I wish I could see them" said Hermione.

"Do you?" Harry asked pointedly.

"Oh Harry - no, I- I'm sorry, I didn't - that was really stupid of me to say" Hermione stammered, also looking to John, who was able to see them too. Ron gave Harry a weary look.

"It's alright" Harry said quickly.

December, apart from bringing snow, had also begun to bring what could only be described as an avalanche of work, homework and otherwise. Hermione and Ron had so many extra prefect duties compared to normal that Hermione had stopped knitting the hats for the elves. She apparently had three left, but Harry didn't have the heart to tell her that Dobby was the one taking everything she had knitted.

Quidditch was at least going relatively well, though for the first time, John wasn't in the storming form he'd been in for the past few years. Harry guessed that it had something to do with how much his left hand hurt these days. He'd seen it - it now had 'Authority is to be respected" permanently carved into it, and by the looks of things, 'Speaking freely is a privilege' wasn't far behind. After every Quidditch practice session, the scabs which made up the second message would open up and bleed again, sometimes profusely.

When Hermione caught John's hand in this state, she was on the warpath, and Ron had to physically restrain her from going to McGonagall.

"She already knows" said Ron, also giving John a sad look.

"It's alright. It'll just be one more thing I use when we get her fired" said John.

When she wasn't fretting over John's hand, she and Ron were putting up Christmas decorations, though apparently Peeves wasn't making it easy, as well as making sure first and second years didn't go outside during breaks, owing to the extreme cold of a Scottish winter.

"I swear we weren't that rude when we were titchy?" Ron mused.

The final DA meeting was the only thing any of them had to look forward too, though for some reason, as they headed to it, John was grinning madly.

"What's up with you? Did Susan take her top off in front of you or something?" Ron asked.

"Ron!" Hermione said indignantly.

"No, it's something else. You'll see at the end of the meeting. Dobby and I have been working on something" said John.

"I hope you haven't been running him ragged" said Hermione, with her hands on her hips, looking for all the world like John's mother.

"Don't worry, I've been doing most of the work. He's just given me supplies" said John.

"Right..." said Hermione, not entirely convinced.

A few minutes later, in the room of requirement, Harry called everyone to order, ready for the final session of the term.

"Alright everyone! So I think this should be a good time for everyone to practice and go over the things we've already learned. No point in learning something new right before a three week break where we can't practice together" said Harry.

"We're not learning anything new? If I'd known, I wouldn't have come!" said Zacharias Smith.

"We're really sorry Harry didn't tell you" said Fred, causing a few people, Cho included to laugh. The sound of Cho's laughter was becoming rather addictive to Harry.

"And trust me Smith, if anyone here needs to go over the stuff we've done, it's you. Your stunning spells wouldn't take down a rabbit yet, you do _not_ want to use that on a death eater" said George.

"Right... so we'll start with the impediment jinx for ten minutes, then go to stunning with the crash mats, and then get onto hand-to-hand stuff. Pair up" said John.

As Harry passed Cho, she beamed at him, which made it rather difficult for him not to pass her multiple times deliberately as everyone threw impediment jinxes. Neville's improvement was shockingly evident; he was almost as good as Ron at this point.

"You're all getting pretty good honestly" said John. "We might start doing some really big stuff in Spring, maybe even patronuses some day" he added, looking to Harry, who nodded with no small amount of pride.

Excited murmurs and whispers filled the room, and everyone seemed more eager to learn how to cast a patronus than anything else they might have had in mind.

"One last thing before we all go by the way. Since we're all going in two days, tomorrow evening I'm throwing a Christmas party just for us. Don't invite anyone else obviously, there's no sense in giving Umbridge a chance at finding us, but I figure thirty people, music, food and drinks would be a good way to celebrate Christmas as well as how good we're all getting" said John.

"No way!" said Dean.

"John, why didn't you tell us?" George yelled, sounding offended, but looking delighted.

"Like the Yule ball?" asked Ginny.

"Way less formal" said John, laughing. "I figure the less Cho sees you dancing the better" he added in a whisper to Harry, who elbowed him half-heartedly.

"So yeah, come if you like free food and drinks and want to just kick back and pretend Umbridge hasn't invaded and conquered Hogwarts" John finished.

The knowledge of a Christmas party and the progress everyone had made left the entire DA feeling on top of the world as they left the room, wishing each other Merry Christmas.

Cho was stood in the centre of the room, apparently staying back, and when Harry heard her saying to her friend Marietta that she should go without her, he could hardly believe his luck, especially given that Ron and Hermione left right after Marietta, whilst Delilah wanted to explain some Arithmancy concepts to John.

That being said, seeing Cho standing there with tears streaming down her face put a dampener on Harry's mood.

"Err... what's up?" Harry asked awkwardly.

"Sorry... it's just that learning all of these things makes me wonder. Would he have survived if he knew all of it?" Cho asked in a small voice.

Harry heart sank. He should have expected her to ask about Cedric.

"He did know this stuff. He was really good to, or he wouldn't have been one of the top champions" said Harry. Cho gave a sad sort of smile. "Thing is, if Voldemort really wants to kill you, you don't stand a chance"

"You survived when you were just a baby" said Cho quietly.

"Yeah, well... I don't really know how yet. I sort of have an idea, but honestly it had nothing to do with me. Nothing to be proud of, that's for sure" said Harry, making moves towards the door.

"Don't go! I'm sorry to get upset like this, I didn't mean to" she said.

Harry turned around and looked at her. Even with red, puffy eyes, she was beautiful, but in this situation, Harry felt miserable. He'd have been much happier with a 'Merry Christmas' than this.

"It must be absolutely horrible for you. You're the one who watched him die... you probably don't want anyone bringing it up" said Cho.

She was right, but admitting as much made Harry feel like he didn't have emotions.

"You know, you're a really good teacher. Both you and John are, I've never been able to stun anyone before" she said.

"Thanks" said Harry, awkwardly.

"For what it's worth, I prefer you to John" she added. The way she looked at Harry effectively told him that she was speaking with a double meaning. That made Harry's stomach do two somersaults. This was the first time in his memory that a girl had preferred _him._ Over _John_. That knowledge made Harry unsure whether he should stay or run for it.

"Mistletoe" said Cho, looking above Harry's head. Harry's heart was now hammering.

"Yeah. It's probably infested with nargles though" said Harry, not knowing where that had come from. He also had no idea where he got the courage to take a step closer to Cho.

"What's a nargle?" Cho asked.

"No idea" said Harry, finally closing the distance between the two of them completely.

* * *

"What took you so long? We'd finished clearing up ages ago" said Ron, once Harry arrived in the common room, to see Ron working on some transfiguration on the sofa, with Hermione lying down, resting her head on his lap, whilst Delilah was explaining vectors to John for arithmancy.

Harry merely shrugged in response. He still felt somewhat stunned. How John, who was two or three years younger during his first kiss, didn't feel anything like this was a mystery. Ron too, when he first got together with Hermione, he seemed far less shellshocked.

"Did you speak to Cho?" asked Delilah, looking up from John's work.

Harry nodded mutely.

"What did she want? A conversation or the 'D'?" asked John bluntly, earning him a sharp elbow from Delilah.

"She err... She-" Harry mumbled.

"You snogged her, didn't you?" John asked, a grin spreading over his face.

The look on Harry's face made it so that he didn't even need to nod or say yes.

"So, how was it?" asked Ron.

"Wet" said Harry, opting for the truth.

John raised his eyebrow.

"Third base before the first date? Jesus Harry..." he said teasingly.

"Err... she... she was crying" said Harry miserably.

"You can't seriously be that bad at kissing..." said Ron.

Harry hadn't considered that and found himself feeling rather worried.

"That's not it Ron" said Hermione tiredly.

"Why was she crying then?" Ron asked.

"All sorts of reasons I expect. She cries a lot these days, she's got a lot on her plate" said Hermione.

"More than us? Doubt it" said John.

"Well... no, but she might not be particularly robust emotionally, given that Cedric died. Can you imagine how she must be feeling?" asked Delilah.

Ron and Harry shrugged.

"Doesn't matter, Harry should've been what mattered to her in that moment. Fuck whatever else is going on" said John.

"Not everyone thinks like you John" Hermione sighed.

"Alright, then what is she feeling?" John asked.

"Well, obviously she's sad about Cedric. She's probably worried about her place on the Quidditch team because she's not been flying too well, definitely worried about her mother's job with the current state of the ministry, confused about her feelings for Harry and Cedric, guilty about liking and kissing Harry because she might see it as an insult to Cedric's memory, and probably terrified of what people might say about her if she starts going out with Harry" said Hermione.

The boys gaped at her.

"Boys" Delilah whispered frustratedly.

"Well I'm still standing by what I said" said John finally.

"Of course you are" said Hermione, rolling her eyes.

"Well are you going to see her again?" Delilah asked.

"She's still in the DA" said Harry, confusedly.

"I didn't mean that. I meant just the two of you" said Delilah impatiently.

"I don't know. I hope so" said Harry.

"You should, you've liked her for ages, haven't you?" Hermione asked.

"Well... yeah, but all those pictures in my head involved her having the time of her life, not crying her eyes out" said Harry.

"Well she shouldn't be bawling during the party tomorrow. Use that as a good excuse to get her alone. I'll be imagining the room of requirement to have a couple of more private sections to it" said John. "You two will probably break them in pretty well" he added, smirking at Ron and Hermione. Hermione blushed, but didn't argue.

* * *

"You've outdone yourself here mate, nice one" said Fred, clapping John on the back. He and George were the first to arrive at the room of requirement, which was moderately lit, with tables stacked with snacks, sugary drinks, butterbeers, whilst the rest of the room had beanbags, a space in the centre which would serve as something of a dance floor, and a few smaller spaces which would undoubtedly be occupied by couples later on in the evening.

"Well this room is pretty versatile. I reckon you could use it for just about anything. Dumbledore once used it as a bathroom according to Harry" said John, shrugging.

"You don't think he'll interrupt, do you?" asked George?

"Interrupt? I think he'd probably join us if he found it" said John, laughing.

Within the hour, the entire DA had arrived, and the room was full of life and laughter, as well as music. The dance floor didn't take long to find itself occupied, nor did it take long for Ron and Hermione to sneak into one of the more secluded parts of the room.

One of the first things John did was to literally shove Harry into Cho, forcing them to talk and confront whatever they did the previous day.

"Uh... sorry, John was... being John!" Harry yelled, trying to be heard above the music.

"It's alright! I was hoping to talk to you anyway!" Cho shouted back.

"Should we go and find a corner where we can actually hear each other then?" Harry asked loudly.

Cho nodded and led Harry away, however, when he opened a sliding door into what looked like a changing room, the function of the 'changing room' became clear to Harry, with none other than Delilah and George snogging vigorously in it. Harry should have expected John to enable behaviour like this. He didn't even want to know what Ron and Hermione were up to.

"My mistake" said Harry quickly, shutting the door before Delilah could yell at him and leading Cho into another, empty 'changing room'.

"So... about yesterday" Harry started, not actually knowing what about yesterday he wanted to bring up.

"I'm sorry" said Cho quickly.

"Huh?" Harry asked, feeling rather stupid.

"It was supposed to go much better than that, but I ruined it by bringing up Cedric and crying all over you, I didn't mean to!" she said, her skin starting to flush.

Harry thought back to Delilah and Hermione's explanation of how she would have been feeling yesterday before responding.

"It's alright, I know you've got loads of your plate right now. Between your mum's job being threatened by the ministry's new agenda, being confused about... well... whatever you're feeling for me, you've got to still be upset about Cedric... yeah" Harry said.

Cho's eyes widened.

"I didn't think you'd give it that much thought" she said.

Making a mental note to thank Delilah and Hermione, Harry plowed on.

"Yeah, well... it seemed like the right thing to do" he said, now fully aware of how red his cheeks must have been.

"Thank you" she said, smiling broadly and kissing Harry on the cheek.

For some reason, the kiss on the cheek felt far better than the kiss on the lips he'd received the previous afternoon. Perhaps it was because Cho was giving him a dazzling smile as opposed to a tearful, distraught face.

"You can take your time. I'll still be here after Christmas" Harry added.

 _That was... smooth? Where did that come from?_ Harry wondered.

Cho giggled for a moment, which was music to Harry's ears.

"That doesn't mean we can't enjoy tonight I hope? You wouldn't want John's effort to go to waste, would you?" she asked teasingly.

"Oh, never" said Harry, grinning back. This whole talking to girls thing really was as easy as John always said it was.

John himself, meanwhile had taken to talking to Susan, who he was actually quite surprised to see.

"Didn't expect to see you here" he said.

"Neither did I, but Hannah didn't want to come alone" Susan explained.

"I didn't know you hung out with her" said John.

"Well I didn't until I started talking to you really. We get along really well as it turns out" said Susan, smiling at him.

"Well there you go, the value of friendship and all that. I'm not going to give a Dumbledore speech though, so you'll have to be happy enough with knowing that you're making a bit of progress" said John.

"Trust me, I'm plenty happy with the progress I've made. Though parties like this still aren't exactly my cup of tea" she said.

"Yeah, I didn't think you'd be the type. Where is Hannah anyway?" asked John.

Susan pointed at a spot near the table of butterbeer bottles where Hannah was talking... no, gossiping with Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, Lavender Brown, Parvati and Padma Patil.

"Ah. What's their topic for tonight then?" John asked.

Susan blushed very slightly.

"Well... I think... you" she said.

"Me? I'm pretty sure they all know me well enough" John said, confusedly.

"I know, but... I think Hannah fancies you. Even if she doesn't, she told me that Lavender, Parvati and Padma definitely do" Susan explained. "I get the feeling that they think something's going on between the two of us" said Susan.

John ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach as he replied. Apparently whatever there was between the two of them was only meant to be platonic for her.

"Funny that. Parvati _and_ Padma you say..." John said, a smirk spreading over his face.

Susan's face took on a look of disgust.

"Just kidding!" said John, chuckling at Susan's reaction.

"I should hope so..." she said, her face still slightly pale.

"You can't say you're surprised though, can you? If girls aren't talking about you being mad like they do with Harry, they're talking about how much they fancy you" said Susan.

"Oh, _that_ I've heard before. Just didn't think Lavender, Parvati and Padma would be in that company, I mean the amount of times they must've heard me go on a swearing spree about Snape or something like that... you'd think they'd be turned off by that alone" said John.

"I think they associate you and Snape with that time you stood up to him and yelled at him in a lesson" said Susan.

"Do people still talk about that?" John asked.

"Sometimes. It's not exactly the hot gossip topic among girls, but when girls are talking about boys they fancy at Hogwarts, your name always comes up, and they always bring up that moment" said Susan.

"Interesting..." John started, realising that he had a chance to actually figure out what girls talk and think about, given that the girl in front of him wasn't interested in him in that way.

 _A door closes and a window opens apparently._

"Who else tends to come up?" asked John.

"Well Harry does sometimes. At least with girls who don't think he's crazy. Ron does sometimes, but I think girls who fancy him are afraid of Hermione" said Susan, causing John to chuckle.

"Cormac McLaggen in the year above sometimes comes up, but every time he comes up, your name always comes up too and suddenly everyone forgets about him. I sort of agree really, I mean you're less arrogant, better at sports and everyone thinks you're better looking" said Susan.

"Hmm... I'll take that then" said John, feeling as if his ego was being massaged on the spot.

At some point later in the evening, Dean and Fred decided to start an arm-wrestling contest in which, unsurprisingly, most of the boys had entered, probably to impress the girls, most of whom were rolling their eyes at the caveman mentality. Hermione was surprised to see John not taking part.

"Come on, what've I got to prove? I'd win this whole thing without even trying. Besides, I don't think any of the girls here care that much. At least, as long as I'm not taking part" said John.

"Well... I don't know whether to scold you about your ego or be proud of you for not taking part in the caveman behaviour. Though I think you're right, I get the feeling that _some of the girls_ " she started, pointing with her eyes at Parvati, Lavender and Padma "Just want to see you flexing your biceps"

"Don't pretend you're not the same" said John, smirking at her.

"I don't know what you're talking about" said Hermione, with a dignified tone.

"Ron's up next" said John, causing Hermione's eyes to flick towards Ron, who was attempting to pull Dean's arm over.

"Told you" said John.

"Oh, be quiet" she said, lightly slapping John on the shoulder.

"I'm surprised though, I thought you were getting a good enough look at him over there" said John, pointing to one of the sliding doors.

"Well... yes, but it's not as if that would stop me from... admiring him for the rest of the night" said Hermione.

"Is that so? He really is rubbing off on you then" said John, smirking.

"I won't deny it" she said, primly. "So have you spoken to Susan yet?" she asked.

"Yeah, apparently she thinks nothing's going on between us. All platonic" said John.

"Oh. I'm sorry" said Hermione.

"It's alright, it's not like the door's completely shut" said John, shrugging.

* * *

That evening, Harry's dreams were simply put, extremely strange. He dreamt that he had promised Cho over a hundred chocolate frog cards. Why he'd do that was beyond him, Ron was the only person he new with such a collection. Hermione insisted that he made such a promise, in spite of him not remembering doing such a thing.

However, the dream suddenly changed. He felt sleek, powerful, deadly even. He swiftly and silently shifted his lithe body across the shiny black slate floor, knowing that his prey was nearby. Finally finding himself in a large, cavernous room filled to the brim with enormous shelves holding a large number of shining or cloudy orbs, he could taste the mammalian flesh of his prey in the air.

And then he saw him. Tall, balding, red hair, glasses... This was exactly who he was looking for. Coiling his body, he finally struck...

Before waking up again in the Gryffindor boys' dorm, with Ron and John standing over him with frantic expressions.


	14. Saint Mungo's

Explaining the situation to Dumbledore was quite easily the strangest experience he'd had all month.

"It's Ron's dad. He's been attacked by a huge snake" Harry explained, feeling completely out of breath.

"And how did you see this attack?" Dumbledore asked, looking at him in the same manner which often made those in conversation with the headmaster feel as if they were being x-rayed.

"I don't know!" Harry replied angrily. "It was just inside my head I suppose"

"You misunderstood me" Dumbledore replied calmly. "I am asking whether you saw this as if from overhead or from beside the victim" Dumbledore explained.

Harry had not expected that line of questioning at all. Why was that important? With a lurch, Harry remembered how he actually saw Mr. Weasley being attacked.

"Neither, I... I was the snake. I saw it through the eyes of the snake" Harry explained, feeling himself turning red and refusing now to look at Ron. He noticed John's head whipping towards Harry with no small amount of confusion.

"Is Arthur Weasley injured?" Dumbledore asked.

"Yes" Harry said. "Badly"

He heard Ron inhale sharply. Dumbledore stood up and looked at some of the portraits in the office.

"Everard! You too Dilys!" he said.

A grey haired, elderly witch and a tall, slender black-haired man turned their attention to Dumbledore.

"You were listening?" Dumbledore asked.

"Naturally" said the witch.

"The man has red hair and glasses. You must raise the alarm. Make absolutely certain that he is found by the right people" said Dumbledore.

Within seconds, the two of them vanished from their portraits.

"They were two of the most well-known and renowned Hogwarts headmasters. They have portraits hanging in the ministry of magic as well as Hogwarts. They will be able to locate Arthur" said Dumbledore, who then strode over to Fawkes, who had been watching the entire conversation, apparently understanding all of it.

"We need a warning" he whispered to the bird.

Fawkes clearly understood more about what type of warning Dumbledore was talking about than Harry did- there was a flash of fire and the bird was gone.

When Harry looked back at Dumbledore, he saw him tinkering with a small, delicate looking silver contraption, which began to make rhythmic clicking noises and puffing out wisps of green smoke, which eventually took the form of a snake's head and open mouth.

"Naturally, naturally" said Dumbledore softly to himself. "But in essence, divided?" he asked.

The smoke expanded into a full snake, then split into two identical copies of the original serpent. Harry dearly wanted to yell out and ask what was going on, likely with profanities, but managed to hold his tongue.

Everard soon returned to his portrait, panting heavily.

"I found him! I yelled until someone came, he was in bad shape" he started. Ron paled again. "There was a lot of blood, but he should be at St. Mungo's by now" Everard explained.

"Good, good. I take it Dilys will have seen him arrive then" Dumbledore mused.

Sure enough, not a moment later, Dilys, the grey-haired witch came back, brining the relieving news that Mr. Weasley had in fact, reached the hospital.

"Minerva, you will need to wake the other Weasley children" said Dumbledore.

"Of course. But what about Molly?" McGonagall asked.

"When Fawkes finishes keeping lookout, he can warn her, though I daresay she already knows. That excellent clock of hers..." said Dumbledore, right before McGonagall headed off to Gryffindor tower.

Harry knew immediately that Dumbledore was talking about the clock in the Weasley living room with hands for each member of the Weasley family, and on the face, numbers were replaced by the status of each Weasley. Mr. Weasley would likely be either at 'hospital' or 'mortal peril'.

Harry's blood ran cold when he remembered Mrs. Weasley's boggart. Dead loved ones were her greatest fear and Mr. Weasley was just attacked by a python as long as a car. But Mr. Weasley wasn't going to die. He couldn't...

The mere idea of someone that close to Harry dying made him feel very dizzy all of a sudden, and also made the dire situation that the wizarding world was in that much more real. It wasn't just Mr. Weasley. It could have been anyone. They'd be leaving behind grieving family members, just like Ron could have been if things went just that little bit worse.

It wasn't long before McGonagall returned with Fred, George and Ginny, all of whom were looking very sleepy and very confused.

"What's going on? Professor McGonagall says dad's been attacked" Ginny asked Ron.

"Ronald, Harry and John can explain when you get there" said Dumbledore.

"Get where?" asked George.

"Headquarters. We just need confirmation..." Dumbledore said, looking around expectantly.

As if on cue, Fawkes returned. There seemed to be some form of mutual understanding between Dumbledore and the bird which no one else could comprehend, for the aged professor nodded at the bird.

"Now is the time. I'm told you have all used portkeys before" said Dumbledore, pointing at a kettle which to a muggle would have looked perfectly innocent.

The yonugsters present reached out and touched the portkey, but right before the world began to spin out of focus, Harry felt an intense hatred and rage for the headmaster bubble up inside him. He had an urge to strike... sink his fangs into the man, before he found himself inside Grimmaud place, feeling far more disoriented than the previous time when he had used a portkey. What was happening to him?

Sirius was waiting with folded arms and a pensive look on his face as he greeted everyone.

"The best thing to do right now is to put it out of your mind. Arthur will be fine, St. Mungo's has him" said Sirius.

"What if the snake that bit him had haemotoxic venom?" John asked.

Ron blinked in surprise and the others stared at him.

"I didn't exaggerate when I said I learned a lot about animals when I became an animagus. Haemotoxic venom attacks blood, makes it curdle and turns it to jelly" said John. Ginny looked like she was going to throw up. Harry couldn't blame her - the mere thought of such a things was... disgusting.

"It's a python, they're not venomous, right?" Harry asked John.

"No they're not, but this one belongs to Voldemort..." John started.

"Trust me, at St. Mungo's, they can sort out much nastier stuff than snake venom. You'll see him tomorrow morning and-" Sirius started.

"Why not now?" George bellowed. "It's our _dad_!"

"Because it's past visiting hours. Listen, I know how frustrating it is to be in this situation-" Sirius started.

"How? How many times has your dad been attacked by a big fuck-off snake?" Fred interrupted angrily.

"Less times than I'd have liked" Sirius said quietly. "But in the fist war, almost everyone I cared about was getting horrific injuries. Some of them died. Nearly all of them died"

Fred and George exchanged uncomfortable looks.

"Trust me, you're not doing anyone any favours right now. Your dad may be fine, but the healers still have a lot of work to do and it won't do for a bunch of worried kids to be crowding them. If you want him to recover, you'll stay put until morning. Then we'll all visit him. I'll order Kreacher to stay put somewhere and accompany you all" Sirius said, sounding almost uncharacteristically responsible and authoritative.

That was satisfying enough to everyone, bar Harry, who was now being consumed by thoughts that he was the one responsible for Mr. Weasley's current condition. They plagued him throughout the rest of the night as he, Sirius, John and the Weasleys sat, waiting. Even when Mrs. Weasley sent a letter via Fawkes saying that Mr. Weasley was alive and that she'd send news when she could, nothing comforted anyone.

Only when she did arrive, with a relieved looking smile plastered on her face, did the tense atmosphere begin to clear up.

* * *

Mr. Weasley seemed genuinely fine when they got to visit him. He was eccentric and cheerful as ever, as if he hadn't been attacked by a snake and hadn't been in a life-threatening condition mere hours earlier.

The problem came however, when the adults were speaking without the youngsters present, and George brought out his extendable ears.

Moody said that Harry was being possessed, and Harry immediately grabbed the ears as everyone else stared at him. Even John.

They must have realised that, for none of them so much as looked at Harry during the journey back home. Harry didn't want to talk to them anyway. _He_ was the weapon. _He_ was precisely what Voldemort was after, even before followers. It made sense. Voldemort had possessed him and used him to attack Mr. Weasley. Who next? Hermione? Ron? John? No... _Dumbledore._

This was why Dumbledore wouldn't look at Harry or speak to him. He was worried that Harry's emerald eyes would shift and morph into cruel, scarlet ones and that he would attack on a whim.

Those thoughts consumed Harry to the point where he isolated himself from everyone stubbornly for the rest of the day, pretending to be asleep when Ron and John entered their shared room.

"He'll start talking again, but you know how he gets these days" he heard John saying.

"Yeah, but he doesn't normally avoid human contact like the fucking plague" Ron said.

"We should just wait it out" said John.

They were speaking as if he wasn't a danger, and it made his stomach do a flip. If they didn't even know how dangerous he now was, he absolutely _had_ to do something.

His plans however, were cut short when Delilah arrived, and with Hermione too, two days later. After Hermione jumped Ron and gave him what looked like the most comforting hug Ron could have received, she turned immediately to Harry.

"What're you doing here? Thought you were meant to be skiing with your parents" said Harry.

"I told them that people who were serious about studying are staying at Hogwarts. We took the Knight bus. Skiing isn't my ideal holiday anyway" said Hermione, brushing the snow out of her hair.

"Don't avoid the real topic though" Delilah said sternly.

"You've been avoiding us" said Ginny bluntly.

"No I haven't, you've been avoiding me!" Harry shot back, knowing that Ginny was right.

"Perhaps you've been taking turns trying to catch one another in conversation" said Hermione, her lips twitching upwards. Ron and John smirked, but Harry wasn't amused.

"Alright, fine, I just didn't want anyone talking to me with this 'being possessed by Voldemort' business, alright?" Harry asked angrily.

"You're a fucking idiot" said John, sighing.

"As if I haven't heard that before. What is it this time?" Harry snapped.

John rolled his eyes and nodded towards Ginny.

"What happened to me three years ago?" she asked, her hands on her hips.

Not for the first time that day, Harry felt extremely guilty.

"I forgot" he said sheepishly.

"Lucky you" Ginny said coolly.

"I'm sorry. Honestly" said Harry with sincerity.

"It's alright. All you need to know is that if there are any gaps in your memory, you've been possessed" said Ginny.

"No, none at all" said Harry, feeling slightly more hopeful.

"Then you're fine. You're not being possessed" Ginny said simply.

Harry's heart felt like it was soaring with that revelation. He wasn't a danger. He wasn't responsible for Mr. Weasley's condition. That being said It left the door open for an untold possible number of explanations for the things he was seeing. Was he seeing them at specific times? Was there something he was doing which triggered it? If so, what?

"That dream I had about your dad and the snake though..." Harry started.

"You've been seeing strange things for more than a year though, haven't you? Last year you saw loads of flashes of stuff involved with Voldemort" said John.

"This was different though. It was like I was inside the snake. Did Voldemort transport me to London or something?" Harry wondered.

"One day" Hermione started. "You will read Hogwarts: A history and you'll realize that you cannot magically transport yourself in or out of Hogwarts" said Hermione, clearly exasperated.

"You never left the bed. We saw you thrashing around for a while but you were definitely there the whole time" said Ron.

The elation he felt made Harry realise what a roller-coaster of emotions the past few months had been. He was constantly furious in the summer, pleased for a moment, depressed about the thought that he may be expelled, relieved when the Order picked him up, nervous about the trial, fascinated about Fudge's incompetence and the political upheaval that was currently happening, relieved again that he wouldn't be expelled, excited about Hogwarts, confused about Cho, scared about him possibly being a danger to those around him and yet again, relief. That was all within five months.

What on Earth was in store for him next? Of course he craved for just a single week where he was just... content. He didn't even need a week where he was on cloud nine. Just one week where life didn't feel the need to drop his mood down a well.

"You know having people who care about you means that you're allowed to talk to them... right?" Delilah asked dryly.

"Yeah... sorry" said Harry sheepishly.

John stood up and flicked Harry in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Harry said, rubbing the spot John had flicked.

"You deserve it. Come on, we're spending Christmas with sick and injured people" he said, pointing out that they were to head to Saint Mungo's in about fifteen minutes.

"We're right behind you, just give us five minutes" said Hermione, brushing Ron's arm with her hand.

"Alright" said Delilah, as they left her and Ron alone. Ron gulped. If there was something Hermione wanted to tell him which she actually couldn't in front of the likes of Harry, Delilah, Ginny and John, there was no telling what was about to happen. That wasn't even getting into the secret he'd been harbouring for the last couple of months.

"Okay... so I have something I want to tell you but it's... it's not something I've discussed with anyone before, and I don't know how to say it" said Hermione.

The fact that she sounded nervous as opposed to upset gave Ron a bit more confidence. Not much though.

"You can take your time. I needed to say something anyway, do you mind if I go first? I feel like if I don't just get it out, I'll never build up the guts to say it" said Ron.

Hermione nodded silently.

"Okay... here we go. HermioneIthinkI'minlovewithyou" said Ron.

"W-what?" Hermione gasped, feeling breathless all of a sudden.

"I know it sounds mental, I know you're only sixteen and I'm only fifteen, but we've been friends for ages, and now we've been together for a year, and after all that, I keep randomly thinking about you and how long I want this to last, so... yeah" said Ron, spewing words out at a rate of knots.

An enormous smile slowly started to spread across Hermione's face, before she took Ron's right hand in both of hers.

"Feelings mutual. I love you too" said Hermione.

"Really? You're sure?" Ron asked, eyes and mouth now wide open.

"I am. Honestly, how many other boys am I going to meet that I find utterly irresistible when they eat meat pies with their bare hands?" Hermione asked.

Ron chuckled for a moment.

"Dunno. I can definitely say that you're the only girl I'll meet who I'll actually want to kiss while you nag me about homework though" said Ron.

"You do that to shut me up and you know it" said Hermione, playfully poking Ron in the chest.

"Doesn't mean you nagging me makes me want to not kiss you" said Ron, grinning back at her.

"But it's so unfair... how am I meant to keep my train of thought?" Hermione whispered.

"You're not. But it's not like I can whenever _you_ walk into a room. I'm like 'Oh yeah, moonstone can be used in draughts of peace and in love po-oh, Hermione's here... guess I'm not concentrating for the next twenty four hours'. You ever had that happen?" Ron asked cheekily.

"On occasion" said Hermione, coyly.

"Then you know the struggle" said Ron, pulling Hermione closer to himself.

"Oh, I do" said Hermione, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Oi! We're heading out now, if you two are done having your quickie, let's head out!" came the unwelcome sound of John's voice.

Hermione sighed.

"He certainly knows how to set up a romantic scene for his friends" said Hermione, dryly.

"Bloody idiot probably hasn't worked out that we haven't even seen each other topless since you caught me and John exercising that one time" Ron grumbled.

Hermione blushed at the memory as she and Ron joined the others.

"What was that about?" Harry asked.

"I'll tell you later" said Hermione, nervously casting a sideways glance to Mrs. Weasley. She didn't fancy the idea of the Weasley matriarch thinking that they were diving too fast into the realationship, given their age. Sometimes Hermione herself felt like for their age, they'd progressed far further than they should. This was rather contrary to John's view - he thought the two of them were still too tentative and nervous sometimes. _I suppose everyone seems nervous next to him_.

* * *

Seeing Mr. Weasley still acting as he usually would lifted everyone's spirits further, but while Mrs. Weasley spoke to him alone, presumably in private, the adolescents explored the hospital, only to recognize a familiar face. It was none other than Neville Longbottom. Harry knew exactly why he was there, which made what John did groan internally.

"Neville! Hey, what's up?" John called. He did it too quickly for Hermione to tell him not to.

"What? Uh... hey guys" said Neville uncomfortably. He was sat in between two beds. Both contained frighteningly skinny people. Both had wild, thin, grey hair. It was when Harry looked at the eyes of the man and the nose and jaw of the woman that he confirmed his suspicion. It was Neville's parents.

Before anything further could be said, Neville's formidable grandmother entered the room.

"School friends of yours Neville? Nice to meet you, I'm Augusta Longbottom" she said, without waiting for an answer from Neville. She did however, notice the looks they were giving Frank and Alice Longbottom.

"You're probably wondering what all this is" she said, and Neville gave her a frightened, pleading look, which she chose to ignore.

"There's no shame in this Neville. They're his parents. My son and his wife were both aurors, some of the best. I'm proud of them both to this day" she said.

Hermione looked at them with a face that suggested that she was holding back tears.

"The cruciatus curse" Neville's Grandmother said. "It took four death eaters, powerful ones at that to do this to them"

They all looked and felt shell-shocked when they left that ward.

"Poor Neville" Ginny said softly.

"I never knew that was why he lives with his grandmother" said Delilah, looking guilty.

"He never talks about it" said Ron.

"I knew" said Harry, not knowing why he said as much.

"What? How?" asked Hermione.

"I visited Dumbledore's office last year and saw his penseive. I saw the trial of the death eaters that did that to Neville's parents. Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, Rastaban Lestrange and Barty Crouch junior" said Harry, bitterly.

"Wait... you mean to tell me that we were being taught by a man who did... _that_ to the parents of one of our friends?" Delilah asked, horrorstruck.

"Yeah" said Harry flatly.

"Small world, right?" John asked bitterly.

"Can't believe the cruciatus curse can do that" Ron whispered.

"I can" said Harry.

Ron looked apologetically at Harry, who waved it off.

"I'm joining the Order whenever I can. No one is getting away with shit like that if I have anything to say about it" said John, firmly. The others all silently agreed.

The more Harry thought about it, the more he realized how everything came back to Voldemort. The older he got, the more he learned, the more cause he found that he had to despise Voldemort with every fibre of his being. How many other lives were ruined because of him and his followers? More importantly, with the ministry's ineptitude, how would he stop them?

"That right there" John started. "Is why I want to scrap the international statue of secrecy" John said firmly.

"How would that help?" asked Hermione.

"This whole mess is only here because Voldemort and his followers think muggles are inferior. That's because the statue of secrecy creates this bullshit 'us and them' gap that shouldn't be there. Sure, a long time ago, muggles burned us at the stake or drowned us or... whatever, but that was hundreds of years ago" said John.

The others were listening to him with rapt attention. John rarely spoke about what he hoped for his own future, and he was never this passionate about anything outside sports, food or sex.

"Now look. Wizards have barely advanced anywhere, and muggles are building cities that dwarf anything wizards have ever done. They've pretty much stamped out discrimination, at least in developed muggle countries. And here we are, worried about what amounts to... a racist cult that actually has the power to ruin thousands of lives. How long would these maniacs last in the muggle world? A few weeks?" John asked.

"But you don't have the power to do anything like that" said Delilah.

"I know. But that's what I'm going to work towards" said John firmly.

"I thought you hated politics?" Ron asked.

"I do. I'm not doing this because I want to. I'm doing it because I have to" said John.

"You don't have to" said Harry.

"But if not me, who? I've never spoken to anyone interested in wizarding politics who realizes this. It's like... everyone's on a sinking ship, trying to plug up the holes with chewing gum, whilst I've gone out on a rowboat and bought some planks of wood, a hammer and nails" said John.

The others were now unapologetically staring at John, who cleared his throat.

"Anyway, lunch then?" he asked, realizing that he'd opened up in a way he'd never done before.

"So... I'm not the only one who wants to be an auror, am I?" Ron asked, trying to diffuse the tension.

"No, I do too" said Harry, laughing.

"Gilderoy, you naughty boy, where are you off to?" came the voice of a motherly-looking witch, who actually didn't look too dissimilar from Mrs. Weasley.

"Autographs!"

"That can't be-" Ron started, before turning and realizing that none other than Gilderoy Lockhart himself was roaming the ward. He still had the blonde hair and shockingly white teeth he once had, but carried himself with the air of a man who had no idea where he was.

"Oh how lovely, you have visitors!" said the witch.

"Err... we aren't... we're just not sure where we are" said Delilah. The witch nodded and turned back to Lockhart.

"Back you go Gilderoy, no more wandering now!" she said, and Lockhart obeyed, walking away in a childlike manner.

John looked somewhat uncomfortable - he was the one who threw the shield charm which caused his memory loss.

"This is the permanent spell-damage ward. We keep people here when damage done to them is too much for them to rejoin society" said the witch, looking back down the ward sympathetically. John looked even more guilty at that.

Harry however, found John's 'crazy' idea of revealing the wizarding world to be less and less absurd by the minute.


	15. Occlumency

"Love? _Love?"_ Harry asked, blanching. It seemed almost unfathomable to him. He was certainly more than a little bit fond of Cho Chang as of now, but the fact that Ron and Hermione of all people had _fallen in love_ , made him feel a lot older than he should.

"Yes", said Hermione, unable to contain her smile. There was a strange serenity surrounding the two of them. Hermione and Ron were sat on Ron's Grimmaud place bed, holding hands and with Hermione's head rested on the goofy-grinning Ron's shoulder.

"Had to happen eventually", said John, shrugging and snacking on an apple.

"You're made of stone I swear" Delilah said, rolling her eyes.

"Huh?" John asked.

"People admitting that they're in love isn't normally met with a shrug. Especially if they're your best friends" said Delilah.

"Are you saying I should be surprised or something? I knew this would happen eventually" said John, before taking another huge bite out of the apple.

"I'm... not sure if that's sweet or not" said Hermione.

"Well... it shows he has faith in you and me working out..." said Ron, slightly awkwardly.

"Better than what he showed with Malfoy and Parkinson I suppose", said Harry.

"Nice mental image there" said John, wrinkling his nose.

"Better than his reaction to George and I too" said Delilah.

"How _did_ he react to that one?" Ron asked curiously.

"He told us to... and I quote, _find a broom cupboard or something_ ", said Delilah.

"Yeah, I wasn't too fond of the idea of you two setting up a peep show in the Quidditch changing rooms" said John, causing Harry and Ron to burst out into laughter.

"You know it took George two days of looking over his shoulders before he could even build up the guts to kiss me again? That was our first kiss!" Delilah said angrily.

Harry and Ron only laughed harder.

"To be fair, you shouldn't have done that in the Quidditch changing rooms", said Hermione, trying and failing to hold back a grin. Delilah sighed.

"Why do I even hang around you lot?" she asked.

"Oh cheer up, we're not that bad!", said John, wrapping an arm around her.

"Yeah, imagine having to befriend Malfoy or something" said Harry.

"Sometimes I do wonder if that'd be better", said Delilah.

"Ouch", said Ron.

As the five of them chatted away merrily as if it was just another day at Hogwarts, they saw none other than Kreacher walking past the open door.

"You know... that's the fifth time I've seen him in the last two days. He's not been angrily muttering shit to himself or calling you two... well... you know" said Ron, to Hermione and Delilah.

"Him being happy is a bit... off, I know" said Hermione.

"I kind of do sympathize with elves but him being happy literally has the opposite effect on me" said Delilah.

"He's got a picture of Bellatrix Lestrange in his cupboard", John grumbled.

"The woman who... who did what we saw to Neville's parents?" Hermione asked, astonished.

"One in the same", said John.

"Sirius wasn't joking about what the Black family was. Come to think of it, Black is a pretty good name for those nutters", said Harry.

"Sirius himself doesn't seem quite right these days either though, does he?", asked John.

"No", said Harry softly. Sirius was now being used and allowed out of the house more often, now that Kreacher was starting to obey more people (not many), but his knowledge of what Umbridge was doing at Hogwarts and knowing that term time was soon to restart did nothing good for his overall mood.

"He'll be spending his time in muggle relations instead of the department of magical law enforcement or stuck here with no one but Buckbeak or Kreacher for company", said Delilah sadly.

"Fucking hell, if I ever get to that point, put a sword through my skull", said John.

"No idea how Sirius does it", said Ron, firmly in agreement.

"We've got to find a way to talk to him more", said Harry.

"Ah", said John.

"What?", asked Hermione.

"You guys weren't there when he gave me our Christmas presents Harry.", said John, heading for his trunk, where he pulled out a pair of mirrors. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"You two aren't exactly the type to worry over your make-up or glamour charms. Hell, _Hermione and Delilah_ aren't", said Ron.

"Obviously. Sirius used to use these to talk to dad back when they were at school. Maybe they were in separate detentions or something. They probably used it during the war as well", said John, giving one to Harry.

"Sirius has the other one. He can explain better when he gets back from St. Mungo's", said John.

Indeed, that was precisely what happened. When Sirius' visit with Mr. Weasley ended, he explained how the mirrors were magically connected and how two of them were once used by Sirius himself and James Potter once upon a time. Sirius had gotten James' old one replicated and thus there was a three-way set for them to use.

"Funny you should mention it when you did. We were just talking about how it'd probably be a good idea to keep you in the loop for the stuff going on at Hogwarts better", said Harry.

"I'd definitely appreciate it. I might end up offing myself over the boredom here", said Sirius, smirking at him. Harry forced a laugh but did not in the least find that funny. Day by day, he was growing more worried about how Sirius would cope over the next few months.

However, he had something else to occupy his mind not long after Sirius explained the mirrors. As he was playing Ron in a game of wizard's chess, with Hermione and John on his side and Delilah and Ginny on Ron's side, Mrs. Weasley called him.

"Harry! Come to the dining room! Professor Snape wants to see you!", she said.

"Snape? What the hell would he want with me?" Harry asked, looking at Ron.

"No idea mate, it's been holiday time for weeks", said Ron with furrowed eyebrows.

"You haven't done anything, have you?" asked Hermione.

"No! Even if I had, he can't do anything here", said Harry firmly.

"Go down and see what the idiot wants, I'll head down with you", said John.

Harry and John arrived in the dining room, only to see Sirius and Snape glaring at each other from opposing sides of the table.

"Err... You wanted to see me?" Harry asked.

"Yes. _Only_ you", said Snape, narrowing his eyes and fixing them on John.

"Don't kid yourself. If you're telling Harry something, I'll know within an hour", said John, causing Snape to sigh.

"It was irritating enough for your godfather to have to know, but you are nothing if not... _persistent_ ", said Snape. "You are to learn occlumency Potter"

"Occlu- what?" Harry asked.

"Occlumency. The art of magical mind defence. With it, you will be able to shield your mind from external forces that attempt to penetrate it", Snape explained.

External forces probably meant Voldemort. Penetrate his mind? Did that mean that Voldemort may want to read his mind?

"What I want to know", Sirius started. "Is why Dumbledore can't teach Harry"

"Simply put? It is one of the headmaster's privileges to assign tasks to his subordinates. Oh, and I may have remembered this incorrectly, but I successfully hid my allegiances from the dark lord and his servants for extended periods of time... did I not?" Snape asked, giving Sirius that same nasty smile Harry had grown to detest.

* * *

"Extra lessons with that _wonderful_ piece of work", Ron grumbled once Harry had explained the situation to the others. At this point, they had reached Hogwarts again, with many people from the order, including Remus telling Harry that Snape was an extremely powerful occlumens, and that he needed to take the lessons very seriously.

"Sounds like an absolute whale of a time. But I suppose it's important..." Delilah mused.

"Of course it's important! If Dumbledore's worried that Voldemort might try to... invade your mind or whatever, then clearly it's worth doing!", said Hermione.

"Doesn't make Snape a bearable human being. Well... bat really, I'm still not convinced he's human. Bruce Wayne should give him a call if he ever needs a replacement", said John dryly. Harry and Delilah laughed, and Hermione gave a small smirk.

"Who?" Ron asked.

"Batman. A famous muggle fictional character", said Hermione quickly. Ron rolled his eyebrows.

It also made planning D.A lessons a bit harder. Now that Harry had a further commitment, they had fewer weekly days to work around for D.A lessons.

"What're you doing on Monday evenings?" asked Zacharias Smith when he cornered John and Delilah the next morning.

"Remedial potions lessons", said Harry glumly. He wasn't a fan of Snape's excuse but he couldn't think of a better one.

"Good lord, you must be bad, Snape never gives extra lessons", said Smith, before walking away in an irritatingly upbeat manner given the news he was just given.

"Fuck me I wish he hadn't signed up", said Ron bluntly.

"Hi Harry", said a voice from behind them. They turned around to see that it was Cho. She was slightly flushed and she didn't look tired in the least. Harry's stomach did somersaults. He didn't feel this nervous last time they spoke...

"Hey, I forgot, I needed to see McGonagall", said John, catching on quickly enough.

"Alright, we'll wait for you in the library", said Hermione, as she and Delilah ushered Ron away.

"Err... hi", said Harry. "I wish they were more subtle, but I reckon it's the thought that counts", he added, causing Cho to laugh and Harry's stomach to flip yet again.

"They do mean well though, that's what matters. So did you have a good Christmas?" she asked.

"Not bad. What about you?" asked Harry.

"It was a quiet one, but I can't complain", said Cho. "Erm... there's another Hogsmeade trip next month, have you seen when it is?" she asked.

"Err... no, I haven't seen the noticeboard yet", said Harry.

"It... well... falls right on Valentine's day", said Cho.

"Right..." said Harry, having no idea why she was telling him this. "So you're probably wondering-", Harry started.

"Only if you want to!", said Cho suddenly.

That answer didn't seem to make sense to Harry. He thought she was asking about D.A meetings.

"I-er...", Harry stuttered.

"It's okay if you don't... I'll just see you around then?" said Cho, blushing further and turning around, before something in Harry's head finally clicked into place. He was delighted that John wasn't there. He'd probably have slapped him.

"Cho- CHO!" Harry called. Cho turned around very quickly. "So did you want to come to Hogsmeade with me on Valentine's day?" he asked, feeling his face heat up rapidly.

If Cho was blushing earlier, Harry had no idea how to describe what her face was doing now.

"Oh, of course!", she said happily.

"Right... cool, that's sorted", said Harry, who now felt like the day (where he would be seeing Snape to cap it off) wasn't a total loss.

* * *

"Wait... the Hogsmeade visit's on Valentine's day? Hang on... should I be worried or intrigued about it?" asked John.

"What? Why?" asked Ron.

"Because I'm going with Susan, remember?" John pointed out.

"Oh yeah and she hasn't worked out... you know", said Ron.

"Well it'd be as good a time as any to tell her", said John, shrugging.

"That's good, just take it in your stride", said Delilah.

"That'd be a change", Hermione said dryly, causing Ron and Harry to laugh.

"Yeah... imagine that", said John subtly, though he was now playing over a number of scenarios where he confessed his more-than-friendly feelings to Susan in his head. Harry had similar images in his own head regarding Cho... until it was time to head to Snape's office for Occlumency.

He had no idea what to expect, and each step he took to get him closer made that ominous feeling in his gut all the more painful. As Harry expected, Snape's disposition was no more easygoing than usual.

"Well Potter, you remember the reasoning behind your presence here today I assume?" Snape asked softly.

"Yeah. Occlumency", said Harry shortly.

"This may not be an ordinary class, but I am still your professor. As such, you will address me as _sir_. Understood?" Snape asked.

"Yes... sir", said Harry begrudgingly.

"Now... occlumency. As I explained in your dear godfather's home, occlumency allows a wizard or witch to shield their mind from hostile, external penetrative forces. You likely don't know, but the dark lord is a highly skilled leginimens", said Snape.

"A what?" asked Harry.

"His ability to penetrate minds is nothing to scoff at", Snape explained.

"He... he can read minds", said Harry flatly, his fears being confirmed. Snape sighed.

"You lack subtlety Potter. You do not grasp fine details, the precise issue with your potion making skills... or lack thereof", Snape said, before surveying Harry with slightly upturned lips.

"Only muggles speak of 'reading' minds. The mind however, is not like a book, with lines of information waiting to be read. The mind-" he started, before smirking again. "Most minds are multi-layered and complex things, and information is not at all easily understood, let alone extracted", Snape explained.

"That... does make sense. I mean my own thoughts are never a 'one at a time' thing, there's always a lot going on. But if a leginimens can take information out of that, how do I stop it?" asked Harry.

"Occlumency stems from control. Control over your thoughts... your emotions even. Those with a strong degree of emotional control can shut down emotions that may contradict a lie. Thus, strong occlumency practitioners can utter outright falsehoods in the dark lord's presence", said Snape.

It seemed to Harry like John would be far superior an occlumens than Harry. Emotional control was one of his strong suits, not Harry's.

"Could he know what we're thinking right now though? Sir?" asked Harry.

"Unlikely. Hogwarts is protected by a series of wards which would make it rather difficult to penetrate your mind. Especially given that time and space matter with magic. He is not nearby, and eye contact is also essential", Snape explained.

"Then why is it essential for me to learn now?" Harry asked.

"Because the usual rules don't seem to apply to you Potter. That dream you had which alerted us to the attack on Arthur Weasley? It shouldn't be possible. However, that famed scar on your forehead may represent a connection between your mind's and the dark lord's. What's more, is that he is now aware of the connection after the incident at Christmas", Snape said.

Harry's heart sank, as Snape stood up; now only the desk separated the two wizards.

"In these lessons, I will attempt to penetrate your mind. You will attempt to resist. Use any means you can think of. Use your wand or willpower. Whatever you find workable. Prepare yourself. _Leginimens!"_

* * *

It was exhausting. It was frustrating. It was impossible, surely? Let go of his emotions? How was that even remotely possible? More importantly however, he realized what he had been dreaming about. It was the department of Mysteries in the ministry of magic. Apparently there was nothing that he 'needed' to know about in there, but answers like that had never satisfied him.

"So... basically 'shut up and let the adults talk'? Sounds about right" said John dryly.

"What about the occlumency itself though?" asked Delilah.

"Not fun. Can't believe I have to let Snape attack my mind multiple times a week" Harry said quietly. His hands were still trembling. He couldn't tell if it was through anger or exhaustion. Probably both.

"Having your mind probed at and hammered won't leave you in a great state", Hermione said understandingly.

"Let's head to the common room. We'll probably be a bit more comfortable there", said Ron, putting his books away.

On their way back to the common room, they passed yet another educational decree which Umbridge had passed during their Christmas absence. Apparently boys and girls were not to make physical contact with each other within school grounds.

"Look at this!" Hermione said, incensed.

"As if they'll be able to enforce it", said John scoffing.

"Damn right", said Ron, pulling Hermione towards him and wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Any excuse is good enough for you, isn't it?" Hermione asked, smiling at him.

"Can't blame me, can you?" Ron asked.

John cleared his throat.

"You're doing that thing where you're forgetting that other people are around", he said.

"Sorry", said Hermione, sheepishly, though she didn't detach herself from Ron as she normally would have. Apparently their mutual declaration had actually changed something within their relationship.

Instead of being more relaxed and comfortable in the common room, they found it crowded and noisy. Fred and George had been showing off a new product.

"Invisible hats!" said George proudly as Fred put one on. His head vanished as soon as he wore it, and his hand grabbed at where his head should have been for a few seconds, before he lifted the hat off and his head re-appeared. The hats themselves were... flamboyant to say the least. They were bright blue, with large pink feathers adorning them. Apparently they were going for some irony with the humour as well - those hats, without whatever charms the pair had used would be anything _but_ invisible.

That being said, Harry did have time to further discuss the department of mysteries.

"So what exactly is the department of mysteries?" he asked.

"No one really knows", said Ron.

"There's got to be someone who works there... it _is_ a serious part of the ministry, right?" Harry asked.

"Well... yeah, but the people who work there... dad told me they're called unspeakables- they're not allowed to reveal anything about it", said Ron.

"Makes sense then... keeping something Voldemort might want down there", said John. "Top secret weapon? Information? Who knows?"

"So why did Sturgis Podmore try to break in?" Delilah asked.

"Fuck knows. Your dad was probably guarding it though. And Harry, you said Voldemort possessed the snake to try and get in?" John asked.

"Yeah", said Harry.

"It's definitely either information or a weapon then", said Ron.

"But the ministry have it and they don't even buy the fact that he's back...", said Delilah.

"Which has to be why the order is guarding it. Maybe Podmore broke in from a false alarm or something", said Hermione.

"That's as good a guess as any of us could probably come up with. Don't you miss the days when the mystery had more to do with Hogwarts and we actually had a chance at working it out?" John asked dryly.

"A simpler time. When big fuck-off snakes and dementors were the problem. Not... politics", said Ron dryly.

"We're definitely not cut out for politics yet. I'll stick to punching and cursing my way out of trouble. Oh, and mauling", said John.

That wasn't enough for Harry any more. Apparently he had to learn how to clear his mind of the very thing that made him human. Emotion. Else Voldemort would be able to read his thoughts, manipulate them... even gain access to his weaknesses and plant ideas in his head.

He did, however, agree with John and Ron about yearning for the simpler times. Even if they were joking.

"I have to practice occlumency tomorrow as well though..." said Harry, sounding none too pleased about it.

"Write it in your homework planner then!" said Hermione eagerly. She was giving him that wide-eyed look which she probably used on Ron for anything she wanted. Harry could see how it worked. She just looked too happy to deny, and she was obviously proud of her Christmas gift. She had gotten the boys homework planners which spoke to them and had colour-coordinated pages.

Harry slowly and begrudgingly pulled out his homework planner and scribbled 'occlumency practice' for the next evening. It appeared to be enough to satisfy Hermione at the very least, but not himself. How he would manage to improve upon emptying himself of emotion seemed to be beyond him. He'd have to ask John for help. That being said, his ability to resist the imperius curse, according to Snape was meant to come in handy for this.

Was it willpower? But no... his willpower if anything had grown since fourth year and his first attempt at occlumency didn't work at all. He decided to also write 'ask John' into the homework planner. Of everyone there, John was the best at controlling his emotions.

"So Hermione... you're not a fan of rule-breaking obviously, but do you want to come and break the latest decree with me?" Ron asked suddenly. John and Delilah rolled their eyes. Hermione gave Ron a grin which apparently only Ron ever teased out of her.

"I'd be delighted. We might lose our prefect badges along the way", she said.

"It'll be worth it", said Ron, standing up.

"I'm going to bed then", said Harry, who genuinely was exhausted.

Sleep, however, did not dominate the evening. Harry didn't even make it to his bed before he felt a pain in his forehead so sharp and searing that he thought someone had thrown a knife at it, before finding himself hearing maniacal laughter. Wait... he wasn't hearing it. He was the one laughing. Something incredible... something wonderful had happened and it was actually making him laugh.

"Harry! HARRY!"

Someone had slapped him in the face. Harry looked up to see Ron, Hermione and John standing above him (apparently Hermione was planning on breaking Umbridge's decree in the boys' dorm room).

"Something- something good's happened. Good for Voldemort" said Harry, gasping for breath.

"What? You've just had another... I dunno? Vision?" John asked.

"Something like that... shit guys, what would have Voldemort so happy that he's actually fucking laughing?" Harry asked, feeling glad that Seamus, Dean and Neville were not nearby.

Ron, Hermione and John exchanged uncomfortable looks. If Voldemort was happier than he had been in over fourteen years, then something dire had just happened for everyone else.

"Hermione, grab Delilah", said Ron. Hermione nodded and rushed off towards the girls' dorm room.

Not two minutes later had Harry recounted every detail in the jubilant feeling he and Voldemort had just shared.

"And that's when you guys showed up", said Harry.

"Not much to go on..." Ron mused.

"Your defences are going to be low after occlumency lessons with Snape probing around. You'll have to expect... I don't know... snippets I suppose, of Voldemort's mindset after them. Especially if his emotions are strong", Hermione mused.

"It makes sense", said John, giving Harry a genuine look of sympathy. Harry never wanted to see that look on his brother's face again. However, something told him that he'd be seeing a lot more of it as Voldemort grew in power... which he undoubtedly would.

"Look, We're pretty tired. Let's all just go to bed. We'll sort through things in the morning. Maybe there'll be news on what happened as well, alright?" Delilah asked, trying to calm the others down.

"They won't report on it as if Voldemort's back, but they'll hopefully say something", said John.

"They should really. If he's as happy as you're saying Harry, then something big's happened, and the daily prophet can't really ignore it", said Hermione.

"They ignored Voldemort's fucking return pretty well though", said John.

This left everyone in a stunned and awkward silence, Maybe nothing would be reported on. And if something was reported on, it wouldn't be good news anyway. No one was looking forward to the next day.

* * *

Harry shut the curtains on his four-poster bed, as did John, before Delilah left for the girls' dorm, leaving Ron and Hermione in the room awkwardly looking at each other.

"That was a bit of a mood-killer, wasn't it?" Ron asked.

"Yes... I suppose it was", said Hermione, softly. Ron kicked himself mentally. Now was not the time for sarcastic jokes.

"You going to be alright tonight? I know you've never seen Harry in that state before", said Ron.

"I will be. Thank you", said Hermione, smiling appreciatively at Ron.

"Good. Listen... you don't have to go back to the girls' dorm tonight", said Ron, before realizing the implications that could come with what he just said.

"I don't mean- I just meant that you can stay here with me! Clothes all on, I promise!" said Ron, feeling slightly panicked. Hermione giggled for a moment.

"You are so _cute_ Ron!" she said, beaming at him.

"Err... thanks?" Ron said uncertainly.

"It _is_ a good thing" she said, kissing him on the cheek. "You should know that when you offered to break Umbridge's latest decree, I wanted to ask you if I could stay here for the night anyway", said Hermione.

"You were?" Ron asked incredulously. Hermione nodded. "Wicked", said Ron, allowing a wide grin to spread over his face, before he and Hermione climbed into Ron's bed.

"So... how do you want to play this?" Ron asked. It took less than a second for him to get his answer - Hermione probably wasn't even paying attention to him asking her that question - she had already draped one of her legs over his, and rested her head between his shoulder and chest.

"You've given this some thought, haven't you?" Ron asked playfully, brushing Hermione's hair off his nose.

"Plenty", whispered Hermione.

"We could make a habit of this you know? I like the idea of getting used to this", said Ron, wrapping an arm around Hermione's torso.

"Mmm, so do I", said Hermione. At least for the night, they could forget about everything else.


	16. Valentine's disaster

It didn't take long for Harry to work out what exactly had Voldemort in such a jubilant mood. The first thing he saw in that Hermione's copy of the daily prophet nearly made his heart stop.

There were ten black-and-white photographs of wizards and one witch on the front page. Antonin Dolohov, read the legend beneath one man. He had a long, gaunt and twisted face mounted on a large, muscular body almost as big as John's. He was wanted for the brutal murders of Fabian and Gideon Prewett. Ron's deceased uncles.

There was also Augustus Rookwood, a name Harry recognised. He was, as Harry remembered, wanted for passing information to Voldemort from inside the ministry of magic.

Harry's eyes were inevitably drawn to the picture of the witch. She had heavy eyelids, and looked up at Harry with an arrogant, disdainful smile. She retained vestiges of her once great beauty, but Azkaban had clearly taken most of it from her. Not so unlike Sirius' Azkaban mugshot in fact.

She was convicted for multiple murders and the torture of Frank and Alice Longbottom, via the use of the cruciatus curse, no less.

"That'll be what has him so pleased then", said John, grimly.

Looking around, Harry saw that everyone else, or very nearly, was discussing something banal. Boys would discuss Quidditch, girls would discuss (to Harry's annoyance), John. All of this, while ten extremely powerful and outright lethal death eaters had swollen Voldemort's ranks.

 _This_ was why John had been planning to get into full duels, fists, wands, everything allowed and it was also why he had Hermione and Delilah researching healing spells whenever they could.

At the staff table however, there were more encouraging signs. Dumbledore and McGonagall were in the midst of what was obviously a grave, important conversation.

There was also more grave news to read in the prophet however. A ministry worker, whom they had seen near Lockhart, Broderich Bode, a 49 year old man had died in a freak accident at St. Mungo's. Apparently, the potted plant by his bedside was devil's snare, and it throttled him instantly, before any healers could aid him.

"We... we've seen devil's snare! We should have spotted it!" Delilah cried.

"We could've saved him..." Harry muttered.

"Come off it! It's no one's fault but the nutter who sent it!" said Ron firmly.

"The prophet's writing it off as an accident, but this was a murder" Hermione said quietly.

"A smart one. The sender pretended to be sending a potted plant as a christmas gift, but because no one in their right minds thinks that devil's snare would be left in a potted plant and sent to a hospital, no one checked it. Bode paid the price", said John.

"Wait a second..." said Ron.

"What?" asked Harry.

Ron beckoned for the others to lean their heads closer to him before he whispered his realization to them.

"Bode worked with dad at the ministry for a bit, but he was an unspeakable. Worked at the department of mysteries", said Ron, giving Harry a pointed look.

Harry's stomach lurched. Voldemort was absolutely after something in the department of mysteries, and it appeared that Bode was an obstacle to whatever he was looking for. _Was._

It didn't take long for word to spread around the school about the breakout either. By the very next day, it was the only conversation in the corridors. Many of the students had grown up fearing the names of the escapees almost as much as Voldemort himself, such was the magnitude of the atrocities they had committed. Neville's parents were only a single example of the twisted minds working with Voldemort.

Susan's entire family, bar her Aunt, Amelia had been wiped out by them.

"I now know what it's like to be you", she said, the evening before a DA meeting as she spoke to John and Harry. "I don't know how you stand it"

"It gets old... but you get used to it", said Harry.

"Besides, it's an easy way to work out who really wants to stand by your side because of who _you_ are", said John, sounding uncharacteristically sage-like. Harry wanted to elbow John and give him an infuriating grin, but now was not the time - Susan was not having an easy time of it.

Hagrid wasn't either. Umbridge had put him and Trelawney on probation, whereby almost all of their lessons were in her presence. Trelawney looked to be cracking under the pressure, wandering the corridors, wringing her hands and muttering to herself. Hagrid was jumpier than ever, though he at least took Hermione's advice about not showing large, powerful animals with the capability to do any real damage.

The one saving grace was indeed, the DA. Everyone, from Ron to Zacharias Smith worked at learning with everything they had, mastering new charms, curses and jinxes incredibly fast. Especially Neville. He was actually competing with Hermione and Delilah in terms of how quickly they picked up spells like the shield charm. Stranger still, was the fact that the only people who could handle him in physical sessions now were Ron, Dean and John. His face was no longer nervous and unsure. He had a fire inside him that no one had never seen before. It was alarming how serious he was. Injuries and scrapes bothered him less than anyone else aside from Ron.

It got to a point where John called a temporary pause to one meeting.

"Everyone, I want you to watch this. Neville, you have permission to do whatever the hell you want to incapacitate me. I'll fight back with the intent to disarm. Hermione and Delilah have picked up a lot of really good healing skills", said John.

"We've never actually tested them on injured people", said Hermione, uncertainly.

"I don't think death eaters would give a shit", said John firmly. Hermione flinched, and Ron gave him a dirty look, but said nothing. Delilah and Hermione then nodded.

"You all know Neville. Watch how far he's come", said John. Normally, Neville would have shrunk away from such attention, but now... he showed nothing but determination.

John and Neville bowed to each other.

"We wouldn't be bowing if one of us were a death eater", said John, before Neville threw the first curse with frightening speed and accuracy.

John sidestepped it, but before he knew it, Neville had thrown a stunning spell which came so fast that John had to block it with a shield charm. Neville used the two seconds that bought him to rapidly close the distance between himself and John, and throw an incredibly heavy punch. John turned so that the punch caught his shoulder and bounced off, before Neville threw another punch, which John deflected off his forearm.

"Depulso!" John yelled, pointing his wand at him and causing Neville to slide back ten feet.

"Is that the best you can do? Come on Longbottom, I've shat out scarier stuff than that!" John bellowed. Harry gawked at John, and he wasn't the only one. Was there any call to insult Neville like that? That didn't sound like John at all.

Neville however, didn't even react to it, and threw a stunning spell right at John's chest, which John dived out of the way of, rolling and landing on his feet, now within striking distance of Neville, which Neville took full advantage off. The whole room stared as Neville managed to land a punch on John's stomach, but Harry, Ron, Delilah and Hermione (along with some of the other girls there) knew that John's stomach was hard enough to absorb such a blow, and sure enough, he did.

Neville's swing was so wild that he was thrown off-balance, and John took his window of opportunity. He grabbed Neville's right arm with his left, hooked his own right arm under Neville's left, swivelled his hips and before anyone could even blink, Neville was thrown hard onto the ground, landing with a pained grunt. John finished the fight with a swift strike to Neville's forearm, forcing him to drop his wand.

"That", John started, breathing heavily, "Is how I want all of you to fight. I insulted Neville for a reason by the way. Death eaters are more experienced than us. They know that insulting us might piss us off, throw us off our game, make us lose focus. I knew Neville would handle it well though", he said, smiling down at Neville and offering his hand and helping him to his feet.

Finally, Neville gave the shy grin Harry had been expecting the whole time.

"Fucking well done mate", said John, clapping Neville on the back. "He was focused, he reacted instead of thinking, he mixed in spells, hand-to-hand fighting, he had great movement... he's going to be a force to be reckoned with when we're done. How many of you recognise this... absolute _beast_ as Neville Longbottom?" asked John. Neville blushed at John using such words to describe him.

No one raised their hands, and John laughed. Harry knew what he was up to

"That was a trick question. I do. This is the same Neville we've known all along. He now just knows what the stakes are. Obviously he knew all along, but now he feels it. It's driven him to fight like a maniac. Bloody well done Neville", said Harry.

Unprompted, the DA burst into an immense round of applause. Harry spotted Cho, her eyes alight with excitement and... adoration for him?

However, everyone was so proud of Neville that for once, Harry didn't even care.

"I'm going to partner you up with Ron from now on Neville. Until we teach you new all stuff, Ron's the only one who can keep up with both the spellwork and the hand-to-hand side of you right now", said John.

"Sorry Hermione", said Harry, grinning at her.

"Not at all!" said Hermione, who was still gawking at Neville.

* * *

"Oh for goodness sake! Ronald Weasley you are the most paranoid... infuriating imbecile I've ever met!" Hermione's voice carried all the way across the common room in its loud, enraged state.

"Hmm... About time this shit started again. They're overdue", said John. Harry snorted, before going back to reading through his charms homework again.

"Why are they arguing?" Delilah asked.

"Paranoid is the word Hermione used. Ron's probably worried about some guy who fancies Hermione", said John.

"In case you didn't notice, Terry wasn't even looking you in the eye when you told him why his shield charm isn't strong enough! I have a better theory than yours though - he was too busy staring about a foot south of your eyes when he was supposed to be blocking your stunner!" Ron yelled back.

"Hmm... you're getting good at this", said Harry.

"No, they're just predictable as hell", said John.

"And just why should it be any of your business if he _does_? In any case, I can handle myself!" Hermione retorted.

"Why should it be- I'm meant to be your bloody boyfriend!" Ron roared.

"And don't we know it?" John asked dryly.

"Oh really? You're acting like an overprotective father right now!" Hermione shot back.

All was back to normal when Ron chose to shut Hermione up by kissing her.

"Whoever could have predicted that?" John asked in a monotone voice. He didn't notice that George had used the commotion to grab Delilah by the hand and usher her up to the seventh-year boys' dorm room.

"Or that? Happy Valentine's day" he asked when he did notice.

"That's tomorrow", said Harry.

"I know. But you'd think it's today what with the way people are acting", said John.

Indeed, Hermione and Ron took seats opposite Harry and John, looking moderately disheveled but very happy, especially for a couple that had nearly yelled themselves hoarse mere moments ago.

"You two are ridiculous", said Harry.

Ron merely shrugged and continued to grin goofily, and Hermione's already pink face got slightly pinker.

"I wish you wouldn't make a habit of doing that" she said quietly, though the look on her face told everyone that she didn't mind one bit.

"It works. As long as it works, I'll do it", said Ron simply. Hermione rolled her eyes and contented herself with re-opening her book, resting her head on Ron's lap and continuing her routine reading.

"If Colin was here, I'd ask him to take a picture of that. That right there... it sums you up perfectly", said John.

"Who?" asked Ron.

"Your girlfriend", said John. Ron looked down at Hermione, realized what John was talking about, and laughed.

* * *

On Valentine's day itself, Hermione asked Delilah, Harry and John to meet her at the three broomsticks at two in the afternoon, and also that Cho and Susan could come as well if they wanted. Ron was spending the day with her as it is, and the three boys had the time to do so because Angelina had relaxed slightly on the Quidditch practice schedules, considering the way they were playing. It made John feel wistful and mournful about not having the chance to Captain the rugby teams however.

Seeing John walking down towards Hogsmeade next to Susan, the two of them laughing as they went made Harry all the more self-conscious when he met Cho. He and Cho seemed far more awkward and nervous than John and Susan. Harry guessed that it was down to John having made much more of an effort to spend time with Susan than he had with Cho.

 _Smart Potter. Very smart._

Thankfully, the topic of Quidditch did come up eventually, giving them something in common which both of them could talk about.

"Gryffindor's looking quite strong this year. I didn't expect your friend Ron to settle in so fast", she said.

"Ron's always been good on a broom. He just had the issue of the previous captain playing his position", said Harry.

"I know he and your brother wouldn't like me saying this but I think you're the best flyer on your team", said Cho. Harry didn't know whether that was true or not - she could have just been trying to flatter him. She was certainly right about the fact that John wouldn't like hearing that though, and it made him laugh.

"John would have something to say about that I'm sure. To be fair, he did dominate you guys two years ago, didn't he?" asked Harry, smirking, trying to pull off a John-esque style of confidence. He wasn't sure that it was working.

"Roger wasn't happy about that", said Cho, grinning. Harry indeed, remembered the look on Roger Davies' face every time John stole the quaffle from him or whenever he pelted a shot too hard for Ravenclaw's keeper to block.

However, the topic of Quidditch only lasted them so far, and eventually the thing Harry dreaded came up. The awkward silence. He wasn't exactly in a position to ask John, Ron, or better yet, Hermione or Delilah for advice either.

He certainly didn't expect Pansy Parkinson and her gang of Slytherin girls to help him out. Well... help was probably the wrong word.

"Eugh! Potter? Chang I can't speak for your taste much, at least Diggory was good looking!" she said, pointing and laughing.

"Forget about them. Remember, her taste includes gits like Malfoy", Harry muttered to Cho, who gave him an appreciative smile. Apparently Cedric's death still weighed on her.

Her mind thankfully, was taken off Cedric swiftly enough in Hogsmeade itself; the two of them visited Dervish and Banges, but after they left, they saw the picture of the ten escaped death eaters again. A one thousand galleon reward awaited whoever gave information leading to their recaptures.

"It's funny, isn't it? When Sirius Black escaped, even though he turned out to be innocent, there were dementors swarming Hogsmeade. Now... nothing" Cho mused.

"That is weird... seems like the ministry aren't seriously trying to look for them", said Harry. Things really did look to be outside the ministry's control. No wonder people like Umbridge were gaining new positions. They needed to appear as if they _had_ control.

The ten death eaters' faces stared out from the walls of nearly every shop they passed for the rest of they day, and the temperature being close to freezing didn't help the atmosphere a great deal.

"D'you want to get a coffee?" Cho asked.

"Sure... where?" asked Harry.

Cho's eyes lit up.

"I know this lovely place around the corner there! Come on", she said, leading Harry to a coffee shop with a sign that identified it as 'Madame Puddifoot's'. It was a small place which seemed to be decorated almost exclusively with frills and bows on the outside. Harry was unpleasantly reminded of Umbridge's office.

The fact that he saw Ron and Hermione earlier heading towards the three broomsticks made Harry slightly jealous. They were off to grab a drink, talk and relax, whilst Harry was about to enter a coffee shop which appeared to be designed to repel boys and men. George and Delilah headed off towards the woods near the shrieking shack. Harry didn't want to know what they were up to.

The inside of Madame Puddifoot's was worse though. There were cherubs everywhere, it was steamy and the amount of pink inside was almost unbearable. There were _only_ couples inside, Roger Davies and a pretty blonde-haired girl included. Most of them were holding hands and some of them were kissing, making Harry incredibly uncomfortable, even when he tried to focus on his coffee. Focusing on Cho was now impossible without blushing like a tomato. He tried to cast around for another topic.

"Err... listen, do you want to come to the three broomsticks at lunchtime? I'm meeting Hermione Granger there. She said you're welcome to come along", said Harry.

"You're meeting her? Today?" asked Cho.

"Yeah", said Harry, who had a sudden feeling that he'd done something wrong. This was _not_ going well. John had probably got Susan to confess her hidden, but undying love for him, Delilah had probably gotten George to do the same. Hermione and Ron were probably laughing themselves stupid at the three broomsticks, maybe with Hagrid. He was stuck saying the wrong things, in a ridiculous place, surrounded by more functional couples.

"He asked me out, you know?" said Cho. "Roger. A couple of weeks ago, but I turned him down"

Why was she telling him that? Did she want to be sat across from Roger instead of the blonde girl, her lips glued to Roger's instead?

"Cedric took me here a year ago", said Cho, her voice very quiet now.

Harry felt his insides squirming. Why on Earth was she talking about Cedric?

"I meant to ask you ages ago", she said, her voice suddenly very high-pitched. "Did... did he mention me at all before he... he died?" asked Cho.

"No... there wasn't any time at all... it was over too fast", said Harry, hoping that helped. It didn't. There were tears in her eyes now.

Things didn't improve over the next minute or two. She insisted that she thought Harry'd understand and would want to talk about it. Harry mentioned that he _had_ spoken about it to John, Ron, Delilah and Hermione. Hermione's name sent Cho into a tirade which involved her crying and yelling at him to leave.

"Women..." Harry muttered to himself in the rain as he headed towards the three broomsticks. "Do they exist to confuse us and drive us up the wall?" he wondered.

He caught up with Ron and Hermione in the three broomsticks, not wanting to mention the date at all, so he put on a poker face as he found them, but that face quickly got replaced by one of shock when he saw their 'drinking buddies'. John and Delilah hadn't arrived yet, but with Hermione and Ron were Luna Lovegood... and Rita Skeeter.

Hermione explained that Rita Skeeter was being given a deal by Hermione, who figuratively had her under her thumb, to write for Luna's father's magazine, the Quibbler. She was going to write Harry's very own version of everything that happened.

"You're sticking with the story you've been using then?" Skeeter asked.

"Yes" Harry said, through gritted teeth.

Harry wondered why an obscure magazine like the Quibbler was being used, but Hermione explained that they should take anything they should get at this stage. They were still the underdogs.

John and Delilah agreed upon their arrival too. Harry did however, notice that Susan chose not to come. A more vindictive side of Harry hoped that John's day with Susan went as badly as his had with Cho. Misery loves company and all that.

* * *

"Today was a lot of fun John, thanks, said Susan appreciatively.

"No problem", said John, smiling back.

"I've been to Hogsmeade a couple of times with Hannah, Ernie and the others but you really know how to have fun", Susan added.

"I do try", said John, grinning at her.

"Listen, there's something I've been meaning to tell you. Don't worry, no pressure, all I want you to do is listen and tell me what you think", said John, realizing that he hadn't been this nervous talking to a girl in years.

"Okay...", said Susan, already looking apprehensive.

"So... basically I'm really happy that I've gotten to know you, you're not like other girls at all. You're about the most gentle person I've ever met honestly", said John, inwardly cringing at how practiced he sounded. Susan didn't seem to notice- she was listening with rapt attention.

"The thing is though... when I asked to meet you for this Hogsmeade day... I intended it as a date. So... yeah, all romance aside, I fancy the pants off you. Not literally... well... maybe a _bit_ literally but what I'm really getting at is... I was really hoping that we could have a second date... maybe I could end up calling you my girlfriend?", John asked, now inwardly cringing at how clumsily he just spoke.

"Oh", said Susan, looking nothing but shocked. John's stomach dropped.

"So... I've gathered you're not too...err...enthusiastic about the idea. Let's just pretend I never said that, shall we?", said John.

"John, listen... it's flattering and honestly... amazing that you feel that way about me, but.. I've barely just got used to actually having friends... I'm not sure I could handle more right now", she explained. John, surprisingly, understood completely.

"I get it. Don't worry about it, if you're still good with being friends, that's what we'll be", said John. _And I'll be waiting if you change your mind. Wait... did I just think that? Oh shit..._

"I am. I'm sorry John... it must sound ridiculous, a nobody from Hufflepuff turning down possibly the most popular boy in the school", said Susan, looking ashamed of herself.

"Hey, don't say things like that! Sue, you're bloody amazing, like I said, you're really kind and gentle and obviously I think you're gorgeous. Besides, I'm not going anywhere", said John. He noticed how her head snapped up when he called her 'Sue', and the fact that she didn't protest was enough for now.

"R-really? You're not... hurt?", asked Susan.

"Well... I _am_ hurt, but to be honest, it comes with being a bloke. You're _going_ to ask out girls who you really like and some of them _will_ turn you down. Not exactly the best part of being a guy, but I can't change it", said John.

"But _you_ don't deserve to be turned down", said Susan.

"It's not about what I deserve. It's just about what you choose to do. Don't worry about me, I've had much worse than this", said John.

"If you're sure... I'll see you at the next DA meeting then, okay?", said Susan.

"You know it", said John, giving her what he hoped was a winning smile, before sighing and walking to the three broomsticks, feeling rather dejected. Hopefully whatever Hermione had up her sleeves was good.


	17. The Quibbler

"Harry, you went public? Damn, I wonder what Umbridge'll think", said Dean, two mornings later at breakfast.

Harry, who was alternating between trepidation over whether or not the story would work and deflation due to the disastrous 'date' he had with Cho, gave Dean a forced smile.

"It was a bit of a weird 'interview', if you could even call it that", said John.

"Skeeter was being a bitch as usual", said Ron. Hermione elbowed him, but he barely noticed.

"It was the right thing to do Harry. Must've been hard though... talking about it all", said Neville.

"Yeah", Harry mumbled. "People do need to know what he's capable of though, or he'll roll right over us"

"Definitely. His death eaters too... people need to know", said Neville, who looked away after catching Harry's eye.

It wasn't long before Harry received a package via Hedwig from Xenophilius Lovegood, which upon opening, Harry realised was the issue of the Quibbler which contained his interview.

HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST

THE TRUTH ABOUT HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED

THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN

"It's good, isn't it?" asked Luna, who squeezed herself in between a bemused Hermione and Ron. "I asked daddy to send you a copy as a thank-you", she explained.

The magazine, to Harry's shock, contained... everything. Everything important at least. All the information that the public needed to know. From the fact that Voldemort was back and that the government was trying to pull the sweater over the eyes of the public. Harry's heart was in his mouth. How many people would see it? How many people would believe him? What would this mean for taking on Voldemort and the death eaters?

Luna's father wasn't the only one sending Harry letters either. Within five minutes, no less than fifty owls had dropped off letters on the overwhelmed Harry's section of the Gryffindor table.

"Looks like these letters are just from people who've read it. We should... probably start opening them before you drown", said John, trying not to laugh at the sight of letters now literally being dropped on Harry's head by a veritable army of owls.

"Go for it", said Harry softly, still feeling slightly shocked. Was something actually going right for him?

"This one's from a lady who thinks you're still a nutter. Oh, but this bloke believes you!", said Ron.

"This person wants to believe you but seems too afraid... and hasn't made up her mind", said Delilah dryly.

"Sounds like a waste of parchment", said George, casually collapsing onto the bench beside her.

"She's at least showing a bit of support", said Delilah, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Noncommittal support but support nonetheless. This lady definitely believes you by the way", said Hermione, passing Harry a particularly positive letter.

"This one is convinced too wait... Oh. Wow", said John.

"What?" asked Harry.

"She err... sent a photograph. Let's just say that I'm not too sure whether it's legal to send photos like this to fifteen year old boys" said John, quickly putting the photograph face down on the table.

Ron snorted.

"We should probably get rid of it" John added.

"What's in it?" asked Delilah.

"A witch. Probably about twenty years old. Not exactly wearing a lot of clothes", said John.

Harry found himself blushing.

"We should definitely get rid of it", said Hermione, casting a sideways look at Ron, who was ripping through another letter.

"It's not illegal. Probably would be in the muggle world though", said Fred.

"With good reason", said Hermione sternly.

"This woman must be dumb. She has no idea what kind of perv Harry could be. Even I don't know", said John, smirking at Harry, who gave him a half-hearted shove. He was still too shocked to be indignant at that point.

"What's going on here?" asked the familiar sickly-sweet voice that now drove students across almost every house and year mad.

"We've got mail. That's not against the rules too now is it?" John asked.

"Careful Mr. Potter. Your lack of respect for authority hasn't been forgotten and I have no qualms with doubling your detention count", Umbridge replied.

"I'll keep that in mind", said John, and he and the others turned back to the letters. Umbridge looked completely shocked that she was being ignored.

"Hem hem", she said. Harry was gritting his teeth with the effort of not yelling at Umbridge to leave, though with much more impolite terminology.

"What is it regarding?" she asked.

"I gave an interview and people who read it sent letters about it", Harry responded, stone faced and monotone.

"An... interview?" Umbridge asked.

"Yeah. About what happened the night Voldemort returned and how Cedric Diggory actually died", said Harry defiantly, feeling an awful lot like John for a moment.

Umbridge paled drastically.

"Detention again Mr. Potter. It seems like you simply don't want to learn your lesson" she whispered, her eyes wide, now with fear, not anger.

Harry was irritated to find that the very next day, another educational decree had been erected.

 _Any student found in possession of the magazine_

 _known as the Quibbler will be expelled._

 _The above is in accordance with educational decree number twenty-seven._

 _Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor of Hogwarts._

Harry, for the life of him couldn't work out why both John and Hermione seemed to be bristling with excitement whenever they saw signs reminding students about the newest ban.

"What's made you so happy? She's banned my interview from even being read in Hogwarts!" said Harry.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" John asked, laughing. Harry stared at him, confused. He wasn't alone; Ron and Delilah weren't sure what they were on about either.

"Don't you see? If there was one thing she could do which would guarantee that everyone would read your interview, it would be banning it!" Hermione said happily.

"What? Why?" asked Harry.

"Hogwarts is filled with teenagers Harry. What do teenagers do when someone tells them not to do something?" John asked, grinning. Realisation dawned on Ron's face, who matched John's grin, but Delilah was still frowning.

"She's threatened expulsion though", said Delilah. Harry found himself agreeing. Was expulsion worth the risk of reading his interview?

Apparently it was. Harry for one, could scarcely believe it. Students would always be quoting the interview as he heard them passing. They'd be reading it in the common rooms or even in the great hall if they were daring enough, albeit charmed to appear like a textbook from the outside.

It wasn't just a select few students, or even just the ones from Gryffindor. It seemed to be the entire school. Even the Slytherins. Hermione mentioned how some girls cornered her and bombarded her with questions on her way to the bathroom.

"They spotted me and they know we're friends so they asked me absolutely everything they could! Harry, I think they really believe you!" she said.

"Yeah... I... I reckon they do", said Harry, dumbstruck.

Umbridge was stalking around the school in all of her spare time, stopping students at random (not random in John's case - he was stopped four times in one day), and demanding that they turn out their pockets, but of course, the fact that the magazines were bewitched to appear as textbooks meant that the students were always a few steps ahead of her. John was having a massive laugh about it with Fred and George too.

"You have nothing to fear if you have nothing to hide" John quoted, as the twins let out another loud roar of laughter.

The teachers were forbidden to mention it by educational decree number twenty-six, but all of them found subtle ways of talking about it. Professor Sprout awarded Gryffindor twenty points when Harry gave her a watering can, and Professor Flitwick subtly passed Harry a box of sugar mice at the end of a lesson, grinning and putting a finger to his lips indicating silence. Harry grinned back at his professor and promptly shared them with Ron, whilst John looked on at the sugar mice in envy.

"You can drop the diet whenever you want you know", said Ron, chewing happily on them.

"Friday is cheat day. No sugar for me until then", John sighed.

"Why are you even on a diet? You're in the best shape of your life", said Harry. It was true - John was alarmingly strong for a teenager (or even an adult) and had incredible fitness levels.

"Best shape of my life so far", said John, raising a finger.

"Suit yourself", said Ron, shrugging.

"You should take after John's example more" said Hermione.

"Are you saying I'm getting fat?" Ron asked.

"No! I just meant- John has a healthy- oh for goodness sake!" Hermione said, upon realising that Ron was grinning cheekily at her.

"You should probably take about ten per cent of what we say seriously", said John, nudging Hermione playfully.

"Which ten per cent would that be?" she asked monotonally.

"Up to you" said Ron, still grinning broadly at her.

"Probably the parts where he's talking about tearing your clothes off", Harry said dryly.

"Harry!" Hermione and Delilah admonished simultaneously.

"Too easy" said John, smirking.

There were (if possible), even better effects of the interview that Harry found. Cho, not even a day later, told Harry that he was really brave for talking about it and kissed him on the cheek. It was dampened by her revelation that the interview drove her to tears, but at least there was still a chance for something to happen with her.

Equally heartening was how Seamus came to Harry to apologize to him, and how he mentioned sending a copy to his mother.

"Hermione... you really are bloody brilliant, you know that?" Ron said, very sincerely after Seamus had walked off. Hermione beamed at him.

"Ron's right... it was all your idea, and you've pretty much tripled the number of people in Hogwarts who are on my side. Plus, who knows how many people elsewhere?" said Harry.

"It was just the logical thing to do", said Hermione, trying to brush it off.

"You've got a damn good track record of doing those though", said John. "Can you come up with any logical ideas of getting Susan to notice me a bit by any chance?" Harry could tell he wasn't entirely joking.

"I wish I could John, honestly, but these things aren't entirely logical", said Hermione.

John waved it off, but Harry could tell that his situation with Susan was actually bothering him more than he let on. That being said, it probably wasn't a good idea to draw attention to it. He'd probably make jokes out of it and change the subject.

Later on, Luna announced that her father would be reprinting the issue due to incredible levels of demand, and Harry found himself being treated like a hero that evening in the common room. There was a strong temptation to exaggerate the emotional difficulty of talking about the night to Skeeter just for the fact that people were now looking at him for something he did, not something he was. But he resisted the temptation.

Every time Harry's mood would lift however, his dismal occlumency lessons would be there to drag him down. Between Snape insisting that he was just lazy and sloppy and the fact that Harry found himself literally in Voldemort's shoes every night he had a lesson with Snape, he felt like there wasn't any time to be happy.

Cho was talking to him again, the DA was learning faster than he could have hoped for, Seamus, among others were back on his side and Harry could only think of how his mind was being blasted open again and again by a man he hated.

"You are lazy Potter! The dark lord will have no issue in opening-" he started.

"Can I ask you something sir?" Harry asked, feeling his temper rising again. "I only ever hear _actual death eaters_ calling him the _dark lord_. I call him Voldemort, others call him You-know-who or He who must not be named. Why do you call him the dark lord?"

Snape's mouth curved downwards into a nasty sneer, but before any responses came, a woman's screams could be heard from outside.

"Potter... did you see anything... unusual on your way here?" Snape asked.

"No. Wha-", Harry started, but before he could think properly, Snape was out of the door, and Harry found himself following.

As it turned out, the commotion was being caused by Professor Trelawney, who was wailing, almost in agony. Harry also saw Filch, carrying some large bags with him and dropping them haphazardly at her feet.

"Y-you can't... you c-can't do this! Hogwarts is my home!" she cried. She was starting to cause a scene; more than a few students were now watching. Snape looked predictably impassive and unconcerned.

Clearly Trelawney was being fired. It wasn't pretty.

"Actually I can", said Umbridge, holding up her High Inquisitor's certificate. Harry could tell that on said certificate, it was written that she had the power to terminate the employment of any staff she deemed unfit for duty.

Trelawney gave a hopeless whimper and even Harry, far from one of Trelawney's greatest defenders, felt bad for her.

Other students seemed to have a range of reactions. Malfoy, unsurprisingly seemed utterly bored. Most students seemed to have similar opinions to Harry. Lavender however, looked a hop, skip and a jump away from a heart attack.

Harry had a sudden, fleeting desire to hold and comfort her. Perhaps it was because Cho was sending completely mixed signals. Perhaps it was because she grew more attractive by the day. Perhaps he just felt camaraderie with DA members and wanted them to experience as little distress as possible.

He didn't have time to dwell however, as Professor Dumbledore made a very sudden appearance. As ever, he looked genial and unconcerned.

"Professor Umbridge! May I ask as to what it is you're doing?" he asked.

Umbridge flinched - she clearly didn't expect Dumbledore's mood to be so upbeat. When your enemies are happy, you shouldn't be.

"I am exercising my right to dismiss teachers who I deem unfit for duty as per educational decr-" she started, before Dumbledore calmly raised his hands and stopped Umbridge's overly formal explanation in its tracks. Harry didn't have the best opinion of his headmaster in that moment, but he had to admit that he wanted to be able to exude that much conversational control.

It would certainly have helped over the years with _certain_ people.

"You have the right to dismiss my staff, but not the right to banish them from the grounds entirely. That is a power that remains firmly in the hands of the headmaster I'm afraid. I would very much like Sybil to stay", said Dumbledore, smiling at Trelawney, who looked as if she'd won the lottery.

Harry, to that very day, didn't really understand what about Trelawney it was that Dumbledore valued so highly, but he felt sorry enough for her, and enough loathing for Umbridge that it felt good to watch.

"Irrespective, as High Inquisitor, I do have the right to appoint a suitable replacement-" she started, before Dumbledore interrupted her again.

"No need, Dolores. I've found one already", he said. Harry's mouth was almost as wide as Umbridge's. How had he found one so fast? Or had he accurately pre-empted Umbridge's motives with Trelawney?

Either possibility was impressive.

"No... you can't mean...", said Umbridge as Dumbledore continued to smile.

"I'm afraid so, Professor. Have you met professor Firenze?"

Harry was almost in tears from laughing too hard, and he wasn't alone. Across the courtyard, Harry saw Hermiome completely cracking up to the point where she had to lean on Ron for support. Ron fared no better: he was leaning on a wall.

"No... who is... who is that?" asked Umbridge.

"You'll meet him soon enough. A very knowledgeable seer if I do say so myself", said Dumbledore.

* * *

The look on Umbridge's face the next morning nearly made John want to drag Firenze from his new seat at the staff table and have him stand in front of Umbridge all morning. It was tempting, but the mere thought that Umbridge stood alongside a centaur... a half breed - the very type of being she hated the most, was far more than enough.

Indeed, she was going red at the mere idea of sharing a table with him.

"I'm going to enjoy this. I'm going to enjoy this a lot", said Ron, grinning ear to ear.

"I'm not so sure. If she was bad before, imagine how unbearable she'll be now that she's working alongside a part-human", said Hermione darkly.

"True... reckon we need to take her down another peg or two?" asked John.

"No. I think we should leave her alone for a while. Mostly", said Delilah.

"She's still the High-Inquisitor. We have to bide our time", said Hermione.

Ron and John exchanged grim looks at that.

"So where's Divination meant to be now? I can't imagine Firenze climbing that bloody ladder", said Harry.

"Classroom eleven", said Hermione.

"You don't even do divination, how did you know?" asked John.

"It was on the noticeboard. I always read through it knowing that you three won't", said Hermione.

Ron gave her a sheepish grin, which Hermione responded to with a fond smile.

There wasn't any doubt in John's mind that for all his bluster and bravado, he was jealous of that particular aspect of Ron and Hermione's relationship. Imagining himself in such situations with Susan was becoming far too regular, especially given that he'd been rejected by her already.

It was something he wanted to ask Hermione about desperately when they headed towards Ancient Runes. What was Ron in her mind when it came down to it? What did it take for Ron to become whatever that was? How could he be that in Susan's eyes?

Why was he thinking about her so damn seriously? He was fifteen!

 _So is Ron..._

* * *

Harry and Ron found Divination to be utterly bizarre. Not that it already wasn't before, but the classroom under Firenze... Professor Firenze looked like a forest clearing. It all seemed so much more... ethereal? Equally impossible to understand of course, it still sounded like nonsense. Like someone trying to say nothing with the use of as many words as possible.

Lavender and Parvati seemed even more enamoured with Firenze than they were with Trelawney.

"He's so dreamy! So wise and mysterious as well!" Parvati gushed.

"He's also part horse", said Hermione flatly.

"We're counting on it", said Lavender, grinning and winking at her. John and Harry snorted. Delilah, Ron and Hermione looked bewildered.

"Horses are... well endowed, shall I say?", said Harry, causing Ron to laugh and Hermione and Delilah to wrinkle their noses in disgust.

"We need new friends", said Delilah, shaking her head dismissively.

* * *

Harry ducked under a rapidly cast stunning spell, before rolling aside from a punch with so much power behind it, that snapped the wooden plank he stood in front of as if it were nothing but a toothpick.

Heart beating furiously, he leapt to his feet, before sending one of his own stunning spells in return, only to have it blocked by a powerful shield charm.

Without looking, he sidestepped an anticipated offensive spell which never came, and instead saw a large onrushing figure from which he could not escape, owing to the sheer speed with which it came. It bellowed loudly as it came, and before he knew it, he was pinned.

Harry looked up at John, who grinned.

"Told you I'd get you", he said.

"You win this round then", said Harry, grinning back.

They had decided, with all the spellwork they'd done recently, to have the DA practice integrating physicality into their duels once more.

"We've spent a long time practicing in a wizard's duel environment. If any of you think the death eaters will fight you in an environment like that, raise your hand", said Harry to the DA. Not a single hand was in the air.

"You've passed our 'dunderhead' test. We're obviously not as harsh about that as Snape", said John, to general amusement.

"There's actually something else John once mentioned to me, and he did it when he pinned me, any ideas on what it was?" asked Harry.

"He was... err... being stronger than you?" Ron asked, smirking and causing most of the present company to laugh. Harry was rather pleased to see that Cho didn't find it particularly funny.

Harry found himself grinning at Ron all the same. it was all well and good being something of a symbol, but it was important that he wasn't seen as invincible.

"He roared at me. Intimidation is huge in a fight", Harry explained.

"Like I said a while back, Harry would win if we went wand to wand. He's the one you want if you're flinging jinxes at long range, but up close, if you can shock or scare the enemy, you're probably going to win", said John.

It seemed to make sense to most people. Zacharias Smith however, scoffed.

"You don't believe me?" asked John matter-of-factly.

"A loud roar isn't going to do much against an armed opponent", he said. "And don't use your animagus powers, that's different", he added. He didn't seem to be the only one who felt that way; there were a few other confused faces in the crowd.

"I wasn't going to. Come up here then. We'll just duel for a bit and I'll show you. I won't duel to beat you, just to keep up", said John.

Knowing that John wasn't going to humiliate him seemed to spur Zacharias on.

He stepped up briskly, and the duel began. Harry had to admit begrudgingly that Zacharias had become rather skilled. That being said, he saw three openings that John ignored, and four that he himself would have exploited.

John meanwhile, closed the distance between them subtly, until they were close enough to land punches. Zacharias was halfway through casting a _Rictusempra_ before John leapt to within inches of Zacharias so that they were face to face. He let out an incredibly loud, terrifying roar without even transforming.

His face reddened and snarled as the roar escaped his throat and it was so sudden and loud that Zacharias fell to the floor in shock. A lot of the DA in fact, flinched and made to grab their wands for a split second.

"You get the value of being scary then?" asked John, offering his hand to a very pale faced Zacharias, who nodded mutely and took it, letting John pull him to his feet.

Harry addressed the DA again.

"Shocking your opponent gives you an opening. It makes it much easier to disarm them or stun them or whatever you have planned. Every advantage counts", he said.

The DA collectively nodded, clearly understanding now, exactly what the power of fear could do.

"What about girls though? We can't exactly roar like a big angry bear, can we?" Cho asked. Murmurs of agreement or some genuine chuckles came from some of the DA members.

"No. But a sudden burst of sound always gives that shock factor. Try it", said Harry, trying not to meet her eyes.

The many pairs of eyes now on Cho made her blush furiously.

"Seriously, go for it. Walk up to me and yell. Whenever you're ready", said John.

Cho nodded, and took tentative steps towards John. Cho was short and small, and seeing her standing next to John, who was about twice as wide as her, carrying arms almost as thick as her legs was comical, given that the task was about intimidation.

"No one's here to laugh. Go on", said John.

Cho cleared her throat and screamed at John, but it was clear that she was holding back. The scream was loud and shrill, but John barely flinched. Some people grimaced, but that was about all that happened.

"I know you can do better than that", said Harry. "Think about something that's pissed you off. Umbridge for example", said Harry, to general murmurs of agreement. He now looked her in the eye, knowing that Umbridge was at least something they would guarantee common ground on.

Without warning, Cho let out a much more fearsome scream, lower pitched, but more visceral and wild. This one actually **did** make John flinch. And just about everyone else.

"Well... point proven", said John, grinning.

"We're now going to put absolutely everything together. Spells, intimidation and physicality. We're not trying to create duelists. We're trying to get you guys to defend yourselves. Properly", said Harry.

No one was under any illusions that they were there for any other reason.


	18. Red-Handed

Seeing Seamus giving everything he possibly could to learning with the DA after the start to the year he and Harry had, filled Harry with both pride and confidence.

The meeting itself went extremely well. Just as Harry and John had said, the DA were looking like a group who could actively defend themselves... not normal students of magic.

The difference between the DA meetings and the scheduled official Defence against the Dark Arts was particularly frank on the lesson the next day.

"Please summarise the text from the designated pages. Write your summaries three times for maximum retention", said Umbridge. "There will be no need to talk".

"No need to _think_ either", Hermiome muttered angrily, making Ron snort.

"Yes, Mr. Weasley?" asked Umbridge.

"I've read this chapter already. I've read the whole book. I was just telling Ron", said Hermione, just as Ron opened his mouth. All eyes fell on her.

"Indeed... then I'm sure you could tell me what Mr. Slinkhard says about the nomenclature of counter-jinxes?" asked Umbridge, her voice girlish and sickeningly sweet.

"He says that they're incorrectly named, and people call them counter-jinxes to feel better about themselves when they use them", said Hermione, without missing a beat.

Harry, Delilah, Ron and John exchanged grins. Umbridge, if she was anywhere near competent, would have known just how swollen with information Hermione's brain was long before now.

Indeed, her toad-like face was a mask of surprise.

"But I disagree", said Hermione.

"Oh you do, do you?" asked Umbridge, her expression of surprise shifting back to the same, snide smile that they had all grown accustomed to.

"I do. Slinkhard doesn't like jinxes, but I think in defensive situations, they have very clear uses", Hermione explained.

"Well it isn't your opinion that counts in your OWL year, it is in fact, Mr. Slinkhard's. This course was designed by wizards and witches older and much more intelligent than you", said Umbridge, mock-sweetly.

Harry and John scoffed at the 'more intelligent' comment and Delilah raised an eyebrow.

"More intelligent than Hermione? I didn't realise Professor Dumbledore was designing the course!", said Ron mockingly. Most of the class laughed, but Hermione elbowed him sharply.

"Your hand is not in the air Mr. Weasley. Do we have to go over this again?", said Umbridge, looking rather displeased at Ron's insinutation about Hermione's intelligence.

Delilah however, did raise her hand.

"Why is actually _thinking_ about the subject so... disagreeable to the ministry?" Delilah asked.

Remnants of laughter from Ron's quip earlier died on the spot. Umbridge froze and it was clear to Harry that she was onto something. He saw John frowning, before a look of realisation dawned on his face.

"Because it is not for you to think. It is for you to listen and take in what you are told as students", Umbridge said, slightly shiftily compared to her usual aura of confidence.

"So we'll be much easier to control when we're adults. That's it, isn't it? You don't want us learning _how_ to actually think, you just want people comfortable being told _what_ to think! When it's all done, you'll have a generation of adults who believe all the crap the ministry says, just because they don't know any better!" said John.

The class glared at Umbridge.

"Your hand was not in the air Potter. Furthermore, what have I told you about speaking freely? I imagine another week's detention will be necessary for this seemingly unshakeable notion in your head", said Umbridge.

"Same time as usual then?" John asked, holding eye contact firmly.

"Not this time I'm afraid. You will instead report at seven o'clock in the morning, sharp", said Umbridge.

John grimaced. While he would no longer miss Quidditch practice, he would instead have to arrive late to breakfast, his hand bleeding, with no time for murtlap soothing, before a hard day of schoolwork.

"Fine", said John.

Once the lesson was over, John was the first to speak.

"Don't tell me that wasn't worth the detentions Hermione. Everyone needed to hear that", he said firmly.

"I wish it didn't result in you having your hand sliced open with no time for healing and almost none for food... but yes. We all needed to hear that", she said.

"At least you won't miss Quidditch", said Ron, attempting to put a positive spin on it.

"Yeah, but by the time Quidditch practice starts, he'll have been using his hand all day with no time to soothe it. I'll be surprised if you play half as well as you normally do, no offence", said Delilah.

"None taken. This is really going to fucking hurt, but honestly, it's worth it", said John, looking around at the groups of fellow fifth years leaving the class, murmuring about the issue of people thinking for themselves.

John was, in spite of the more punishing detentions, pleased to see that a high proportion of the student body was discussing the issue before the end of the day. In fact, he received quite the surprise when Adrian Pucey, a member of the Slytherin Quidditch team and John's own personal Quidditch rival walked up to him with none other than Daphne and Astoria Greengrass, Daphne's younger sister in tow.

It was generally accepted that John's only real competition for the title of the best chaser at the school was indeed, Adrian Pucey. He was a tall, athletic seventh-year with lightning reflexes and excellent flight-control. He lacked John's sheer force, but his aim was impeccable.

John eyed them suspiciously. Daphne was avoiding looking at either John or Delilah. Delilah however, seemed to not particularly care much about the manner in which Daphne broke up with her any more. Apparently George was more than enough these days.

"Potter. Dursley", said Pucey, nodding curtly to John and Delilah.

"Pucey. Need something?" John said shortly.

"Look... we might not generally see eye-to-eye on a quidditch field but... I wanted to say that we're behind you if you ever want to do anything to Umbridge. What the pair of you exposed? I'm not taking that nonsense lying down", said Pucey. Astoria and Daphne both nodded in agreement.

John was taken aback, but Delilah gave him a very genuine smile. John remembered how Pucey almost never committed fouls on the Quidditch field, how he never participated in their tactics pre-game to try and hurt or throw other players off. He let his on-field skill do the talking. He apparently had a shred of honour.

"Thank you", said Delilah gratefully.

"If you ever need help from her detentions too..." Daphne said, leaving her statement open, but looking at John's hand.

"You know about that?" asked John.

"It's not really a secret", said Astoria. "Besides, it's hard to miss once you've spotted it for the first time"

"Thanks a lot you three. It... actually means a lot you know. I figured if you're surrounded by people who support her you wouldn't be too ready to oppose her", said Harry.

Hermione gave Harry a broad smile. Building bridges was something she'd always expressed interest in.

"It's not exactly easy to keep our mouths shut, but this is a step too far from the ministry. No two ways about it", said Pucey.

"The minute we think up ideas to screw with Umbridge, you'll be involved then", said Ron firmly.

The three Slytherins gave them genuine smiles before heading back to their table.

"Well then. Can't say I expected that", said Ron.

"Pucey was always the one member of their team who never acted like a piece of shit though", said John.

"True. And Daphne was always pretty dismissive of Malfoy's bunch", said Harry.

"I've been hoping someone from Slytherin would show some support for ages!" said Hermione excitedly.

"I never even thought about it. Guess It just seemed too unlikely to me", said Ron.

It seemed to be all they could talk about on their way back to the common room in fact. If those three were behind them, how many other Slytherins thought similarly about Umbridge?

More importantly, how could they use this? Obvipusly they could ask them to listen out for plans that some of the Slytherins made, but there had to be something more they could do. They clearly wanted to.

It was put to a vote at the very next DA meeting.

"You think they can be trusted?", asked Padma.

"Daphne can", said John at once, casting a wary sideways glance at Delilah, who still seemed unperturbed.

"What about Pucey or Daphne's sister?" asked Hannah.

"We should give them the benefit of the doubt. Have them listen out, tell us what they find and judge for ourselves. It's obvious some of the Slytherins have caught on to us meeting like this", said Neville. He blushed slightly but the fact that he spoke up like that in front of so many people was a far cry from the Neville of two years ago.

John couldn't help but look at Ron and share a grin with him. Harry meanwhile, drew the oddly poetic comparison to how lumps of carbon could become diamonds under intense pressure.

"Neville's right", said Hannah Abbot firmly, causing his cheeks to turn slightly pinker. "We're against You-Know-Who so we've got to be open minded and trusting, don't we? We can't be as hostile as them, can we?" she asked.

"Just not stupidly so. No need to risk getting exposed until we can trust them", said Delilah.

There were murmurs of agreement, meaning that there was a chance for the three Slytherins in question to earn their way into the DA. At the very least they may hear of any plans Umbridge felt she could trust the likes of Draco Malfoy with. Pucey was well enough liked within the Slytherin house.

John stuck his head out of the door to the room of requirement. When he saw that the corridor was empty, he beckoned for Hannah to leave with him.

He knew that this was far from the healthiest way to attempt to forget about Susan but at this point, he didn't find himself caring. At least in the moment, it was too much fun and Hannah was far from complaining.

That being said, something told John that Hannah wouldn't exactly be happy if she knew how often Susan's face entered his mind during his 'escapades'. He was becoming less and less convinced that the relief he got was worth the self-loathing he felt afterwards. Thankfully, he'd become rather adept at hiding it, plastering on a smile until he and Hannah had parted ways.

 _Ron's lucky_ , John thought. _No need to worry about this nonsense with Hermione for him_. He didn't like how bitter he felt about the comparison between their two situations.

Worse still however, was Neville's refusal to even look at him when he arrived back in the common room. Apparently Neville fancied Hannah and knew full well what she and John had been doing.

 _Fucking hell, if I knew earlier I wouldn't even have touched her..._ John thought. _Maybe Delilah was right all along. Even if I don't hurt myself or the girl in question directly, someone's going to end up feeling like shit._

Indeed, it was the last time he and Hannah spent an evening together in such a way. John thankfully had the courage to tell her that someone liked her a lot more than he did, and he refused to hurt him anymore.

Neville still hadn't quite forgiven him; he avoided direct eye contact for the next week at. It stung, to say the least.

That left him with the issue of getting over Susan some other way. The issue with that was thar the more he thought of her, the stronger his feelings seemed to get. The topic of him asking her out was brought up just once more and she was still so understanding. Needless to say, it just made him want her all the more.

They would spend more time than ever together, and John felt like a moth being drawn to a flame.

His confusing love life (if it could even be called that) aside, Pucey and Astoria Greengrass ushered him and Harry aside before breakfast one morning.

"Look, I don't have any specifics yet, but I'm certain they know something, because they keep going to Umbridge. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle that is. They've got some of the Quidditch team involved too, and Parkinson, no doubt", said Pucey.

"Have they said anything?" asked Harry.

"Only that they're onto you. Not that we know what it is you're doing, but they think they at least know someone who's involved", said Astoria.

"Look... about that", John started, awkwardly.

"Don't worry, We wouldn't have trusted you with whatever it is if the situations were reversed", said Pucey, giving them a wry smile.

John nodded.

"I've seen them hanging around the Ravenclaw area a few times. You might want to protect whoever in Ravenclaw it is who's with you", said Astoria.

Harry immediately thought of Cho. He didn't quite know where the two of them stood, but it was no secret that they were seeing each other. They must've got the idea of intimidating information out of her. He didn't quite like the idea of Hermione's jinx being activated on her, that was for sure.

"We think we know who it is", said Harry finally.

"Good. Keep an eye on them", said Pucey. "As for Umbridge herself? She's looking more smug by the day. Watch out for her. More than usual I mean", he explained.

"Will do. Thanks a lot", said Harry.

"What should we expect? Ambush in the corridors like before Quidditch?" asked Ron once Harry and John told the others.

"I don't think so. I think some of the DA will be tailed actually. Cho most likely of course", said Harry.

"If she ever looks shifty or nervous then we know what to do", said John.

"Solemnly swear that we're up to no good", said Ron.

The next two days did, as Pucey warned, did end up marked by Malfoy being particularly smug, even by his own standards.

He had grown slightly less antagonizing than his third year self until now; he was worse than ever.

Calling Hermione or Delilah mudbloods would generally be when few people were nearby, but now he would do so in crowded corridors, ignoring angry looks from other students.

He would steal unapologetically wolfish looks at Susan as well. Needless to say, he didn't care how uncomfortable they made her, but perhaps more unsettlingly, he didn't care that John was often around her.

It all made Harry and John feeling particularly alert on the day they were to teach the DA the patronus charm. Until of course, they actually started to teach it.

"How did _you_ learn?" asked Parvati.

"Well a dementor is what appears when we face a boggart. Lupin used one of them to imitate them and we learned using a boggart as a dummy", said Harry.

"That must've been so scary!", Lavender exclaimed.

"Well... yeah, I suppose it was at first. Thing about a patronus though, is that you're so intensely focused on the happy memory that you forget to be afraid. You need to be able to focus on it so firmly that you may as well be wherever you were in the memory", said John.

When demonstrating to the DA, Harry was struck once more, by how difficult a charm it was. They hadn't seen such struggle with a new charm since they themselves had learned to cast it.

Harry knew that John's advice of imagining that they were literally reliving the memory in question didn't fall on deaf ears, and yet wispy silver vapour was the extent of what they could produce for over half an hour.

Until a gleaming silver Cheetah erupted from Delilah's wand.

The whole DA stopped to stare in awe at it as the smoky big cat bounded back towards her.

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed as John gave her a very proud smile.

"While it's fresh, describe what you did", said John.

"I thought about our first visit to Hagrid in our second year until I could picture myself there again", said Delilah, without missing a beat. She was still staring at the cheetah.

"There you go. A happy memory relating to friends maybe. Whatever you choose, you have to straight up immerse yourself in it", said John.

"Focussing to that level is not easy. You know you're not there any more but you have to force yourself to feel as if you are. Yes Ginny! Brilliant!" said Harry.

A large, silver horse burst out of her wand and Ginny stared at it, almost in disbelief that she'd conjured the animal.

"That'd probably be a useful animagus form to have too", John mused.

"Oh no you don't", said Ginny, the horse fading away into thin air. "After you transformed on the train I looked into it myself and I'm not risking any of those... accident transformations"

"Oh, like that dog with the-", John started, knowing exactly where she'd read about it.

"No! I'm not thinking about that image again, thank you very much!", Ginny said loudly. John smirked and motioned for the DA to continue practicing their patronus charms.

It wasn't all that long until most of the present company had cast patronuses of their own; a Jack Russell terrier for Ron, an otter for Hermione and a large rabbit for Luna.

Some people hadn't mastered it to that degree, but everyone managed _something_. Harry and John didn't have the heart to tell them how much harder these charms became in the presence of a dementor, and how much harder still ut was with a group of dementors.

Nearly no one would have succeeded with dementors around, but it was a start. That mattered.

It only took three meetings for the DA to largely succeed in fact. On the third however, Harry spotted the door open, then close. He looked around but saw no sign of someone enter or leave.

Narrowing his eyes, he scanned the room, but somehow... saw nothing.

Was someone in the room with an invisibility cloak? _His_ invisibility cloak?

Harry reached in his pocket for the marauders' map, but felt something tugging at his trousers.

Looking down, he was surprised to see a familiar pair of gigantic green eyes staring back at him.

"Dobby?" Harry asked, shocked.

The DA turned around to look at the tiny, squeaky voiced elf and Harry himself.

"Harry Potter sir! She is coming! you must hide!"

"What do you me-" Harry started.

"Umbridge", Delilah said at once.

"Yes miss, yes! She knows of the come and go room! She is on her way!" Dobby squeaked frantically.

The silence was deafening and everyone looked to Harry.

"What are you waiting for? Run!" Harry yelled.

The rush of the thirty students trying to get through the two doors created a bottleneck, and Harry and John stayed behind. Only when the space was cleared did they too, rush out.

But they were stopped and confronted. By Malfoy, some other fifth to seventh year slytherin students and Umbridge, clearly leading them.

Tempting as it was to raise their wands and blast Umbridge aside, the game was up. They had to go quietly.

"Looks like we got them professor!", said Malfoy excitedly, like a child trying to impress his mother.

"Excellent work Draco! Excellent! Fifty points to Slytherin!", said Umbridge gleefully before turning back to Harry and John.

"Now. The pair of you will come with me. I do believe that you have flouted no less than seven educational decrees. You will follow me to the Headmaster's office. Draco, search the room", said Umbridge.

To Harry's horror, Malfoy returned with a familiar piece of parchment. The one with _every_ name of the DA members on it.

"And another ten points, Draco. Well done today", said Umbridge.

Malfoy beamed at Umbridge before giving Harry and John a nasty, smug grin.

"Fucking lapdogs", John muttered to Harry as they followed Umbridge and the Slytherins to Dumbledore's office.

"As if they'd have done the brave thing. Petty little shits...", said Harry under his breath.

They didnt have much time to be angry though. Surely this was it... surely this, if anything would get them expelled...

"Start thinking. I'm not going quietly into the night here", John whispered.

Harry wanted to smirk at the fact that John almost sounded classy and intelligent but he had to agree. He wracked his brain for some kind of plan. Anything would do, but all he could end up thinking of was how he could take on Voldemort as an expelled former Hogwarts student.

Judging by the look on John's face, he was in the same predicament.

Heart pounding away in his chest, Harry was led by Umbridge to the enchanted stairway to Dumbledore's office.

His stomach lurched when he saw who stood outside Dumbledore's office.

Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic.

They were in serious trouble now.

"Excellent work, Dolores! We'll see what Dumbledore has to say about this!"

"Thank you, Minister", said Umbridge with a simpering and subservient voice. "The rest of you, wait outside... ah! perfect timing!", said Umbridge.

Harry looked to the right and saw Crabbe, dragging a girl wearing a Ravenclaw tie with him. The girl's hood had been pulled so low over her head and her jumper had been pulled so high that only her eyes could be seen.

It was clearly not Cho, this girl was noticeably taller; almost as tall as Harry.

"Probably the most contact you've had with a girl in your life, isnt it Crabbe?", John asked nastily. Harry smirked in spite of himself but somehow the joke seemed to go over Crabbe's head; he looked baffled.

"Enough, Potter", Umbridge snapped. John gave her a mock salute, but said no more.

Before long, the staircase behind the statue began to rise all the way to Dumbledore's office and Harry knew that this had to be it.


End file.
